By: Omair Alavi It seems that the golden run of Fizza Ali Meerza and Nabeel Qureshi will continue at the box office with Na Maloom Afraad 2 where the main cast returns for a hilarious adventure in a new city – Cape Town. The pace of the film is the key since it keeps the audience engrossed…
SAMAA | Omair Alavi – Posted: Sep 1, 2017 | Last Updated: 4 years ago
By: Omair Alavi
It seems that the golden run of Fizza Ali Meerza and Nabeel Qureshi will continue at the box office with Na Maloom Afraad 2 where the main cast returns for a hilarious adventure in a new city – Cape Town. The pace of the film is the key since it keeps the audience engrossed from start till end, with interesting characters joining in the coup against an Arab Sheikh who keeps his prized possession in his golden commode.
The Plot
An Arab Sheikh Sultan Al Baklawa (Nayyar Ejaz) visits South Africa and stays in the hotel where Pari (Hania Amir) work; she is all set to marry Moon (Mohsin Abbas Haider) who invites his only family Shakeel Bhai (Jawed Sheikh) and Farhan (Mohsin Abbas Haider) to his wedding. Neither does he know that they have lost all their money nor do they tell him; when the Sheikh’s golden pot comes into their possession by chance, they decide to go back the Na Maloom Afraad way and that’s where things go out of hand! Not only is the police after them, they are chased by local goons who want the commode at all cost, not because of its colour but its content as well!
The Good
The best part of Na Maloom Afraad 2 is its full-of-pun script, its fast-paced narrative and excellent direction. Kudos to director Nabeel Qureshi and co-producer Fizza Ali Meerza (Mehdi Ali is the other producer) for moonlighting as scriptwriters, especially in 2017 when the audience has matured to differentiate between good and bad. The film’s background score and soundtrack by Shani Arshad look promising especially when the goons played by Saleem Meraj and Nazar Hussain enter the frame as that reminds one of Starsky & Hutch. Sadaf Kanwal’s belly dance on Kaif O Suroor is likely to attract the audience who has never seen anything like that in our films. As for the acting, the film belongs to both Jawed Sheikh and Fahad Mustafa who have made the characters of Shakeel Bhai and Farhan their very own. Jawed Sheikh won awards for his character 3 years back and it seems Fahad will not be far behind for playing the scheming Karachi-ite in Cape Town!
The Bad
The plot revolves around the commode and that is the only negative point of the film, as that will keep a few elderly cine-goers away from it. Nayyar Ejaz is now becoming predictable and until and unless he is cast in some different role, he will be labelled as overexposed for the right reasons. Mohsin Abbas Haider shouldn’t try this hard to impress because he has made a lot of fans by just being himself. He is a star who should concentrate on his skills; he should have sung the Hug Lay song, as he is a superb vocalist who can act as well. The women – both Urwa Hocane and Hania Amir – had nothing much to do here just like the first film where Kubra Khan and Urwa came and went without making an impact. I was so looking forward to watching Marina Khan act in a film but her role didn’t match her caliber as it left a lot to be desired. She is THE Marina Khan and we all would love to watch her in films!
Verdict – 4/5
In a country where making a normal film is an achievement, Nabeel and Fizza have proved to be third time lucky. The film may not be as good as Actor In Law or the first Na Maloom Afraad but it has enough to attract the audience and entertain them for 130-odd minutes. They know exactly what their fans want and that’s what they give to them – sometimes with a social message and sometimes as a comedy caper. Whatever happens in Na Maloom Afraad 2 may have happened before on screen but not in Pakistan and that’s its unique selling point for entertainment-deprived Eid public.
