With crowd-pullers like Operation 021, Dukhtar and Na Maloom Afraad getting attention at the local box office last year, film buffs are well within their rights to triple expectations from 2015.
From Mahira-starrer Bin Roye to Pakistan’s first animated feature film Teen Bahadur, 2015 is expected to see a plethora of films from different genres.
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Here are some films to watch out for in 2015.
Teen Bahadur
The brainchild of Oscar winning filmmaker Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy, Teen Bahadur is all set to make a splash in the summer of 2015 as Pakistan’s first animated feature film. Set in the fictional town of Roshan Basti, Teen Bahadur revolves around three little warriors – Amna, who has the power of speed, Kamil, who has extraordinary hearing ability and Saadi who is amazing at calculation. Together they form a team and fight the menace they feel is plaguing society. According to Obaid-Chinoy, “Teen Bahadur is going to be groundbreaking because it provides quality entertainment for the whole family.”
The film is set to release in May 2015.
Bin Roye
Directed by Haissam Hussain, Bin Roye is an upcoming Pakistani romantic drama, based on writer Farhat Ishtiaq’s famous novel, “Bin Roye Aansoo”. The film stars Humayun Saeed, Mahira Khan, Zeba Bakhtiar and Javed Sheikh in pivotal roles and will also be turned into a serial to be aired on Hum TV with the same cast. Having previously directed compelling dramas like Hum TV’s Durr-e-Shahwar and Dastaan, for which he won the Lux Style Awards, Hussain’s Bin Roye is expected to be another masterpiece.
The film is slated to release on Eidul Fitr.
Jawani Phir Nahi Aani
Produced under the banner of Humayun Saeed’s production house, Six Sigma Plus,Jawaani Phir Nahin Aani is set to release on Eidul Azha and is said to be pure entertainment. “It’s a comedy movie so it doesn’t have a serious plot. It’s a funny twist on how some wives don’t give their husbands any space,” Humayun had told Dawn in a recent interview. The film has an ensemble cast which includes Hamza Ali Abbasi, Ahmed Butt, Wasay Chaudhry, Mehwish Hayat, Sarwat Gillani, Sohai Ali Abro, Ayesha Khan and Humayun Saeed. Javed Sheikh and Omar Shareef will also be part of the movie.
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Manto
Directed by the talented Sarmad Sultan Khoosat, the film was initially set to release in December 2014, but has now been pushed until after the World Cup in March. Written by award winning playwright, Shahid Mahmood Nadeem, the film is based on the life of renowned literary figure Saadat Hasan Manto and has a stellar cast, including Sarmad himself in the lead (playing Manto), with Saba Qamar, Sania Saeed, Mahira Khan, Hina Bayat, Faysal Qureshi, Shamoon Abbasi, Humayun Saeed, Irfan Khoosat and Adnan Jaffar, among others. With vocals by Meesha Shafi, Zeb, Javed Bashir and Ali Sethi, along with a song written by Mohammad Hanif especially for this film, Manto is surely going to be a treat!
Halla Gulla
When news about Halla Gulla first started circulating, people were under the impression that it’s a sequel to last year’s blockbuster, Na Maloom Afraad(NMA) – possibly because, like NMA, it’s a comedy film featuring Javed Sheikh. But director Kamran Akbar Khan had dismissed all such speculations, stating that it is in fact a “commercial comedy” and will only show “the posh parts of Karachi — the neat and clean side.” The cast of the film includes veteran actors Javed Sheikh, Ismail Tara, Ghazal Javed, Ashraf Khan and Adil Wadia along with some relatively new faces. Songs have been sung by Indian singers Mika Singh and Sunidhi Chauhan and Rahat Fateh Ali Khan has also lent his voice for a song. According to Khan, the film does not follow a story, but rather a chain of events. Such films normally tend to struggle at the box office, but with such an ensemble cast, there’s still hope that the film will not be entirely disappointing.
Kambakht
Kambakht is Hamza Ali Abbasi’s directional debut and, according to him, it is an indie comedy. The film has a stellar cast, which includes Humayun Saeed, Sheheryar Munawar Siddiqui, Sohai Ali Abro, Saba Qamar and Hamza Ali Abbasi himself, among others. While talking to Dawn about the movie last year, Abbasi had said: “I deliberately chose to make a comedy because I wanted to make people laugh. It doesn’t try to be anything else.” Let’s hope it does exactly that!
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Ho Mann Jahaan (working title)
Directed by renowned ad filmmaker Asim Raza and produced by actor Sheharyar Munawer Siddiqui, Ho Mann Jahaan stars the gorgeous Mahira Khan as well as hearthrob Adeel Hussain. While the cast and crew are tight-lipped about details, we do know that it is a coming of age story focusing on three friends. But there’s more to look forward to. According to Mahira, her role in the film is unlike her usual shalwar kameez clad damsel in distress characters on TV. She plays a regular, urban girl. She’s a musician, she’s just a nice, sorted girl of today, a real person,” the actor had said. “For me, it’s a departure of sorts. When I do dramas, I feel like it is usually around a specific character. But this is about three friends, about a slice of life.” -dawn
