By: Omair Alavi If you are as proud of Pakistan Army as the patriotic Pakistani, then Yalghaar is the must-watch film for you this Eid. If your sentiments don’t match the jingoistic Pakistani, don’t dare enter the cinema, as you will not feel compatible to the narrative shown on the screen. Yalghaar is a declared Propaganda…
SAMAA | Omair Alavi – Posted: Jul 3, 2017 | Last Updated: 4 years ago
By: Omair Alavi
If you are as proud of Pakistan Army as the patriotic Pakistani, then Yalghaar is the must-watch film for you this Eid. If your sentiments don’t match the jingoistic Pakistani, don’t dare enter the cinema, as you will not feel compatible to the narrative shown on the screen. Yalghaar is a declared Propaganda film where the jawans are shown battling the enemies of the state and if you are to sum up the state of jawans, it is once a soldier, always a soldier!
The Plot
Colonel Asad (Shaan Shahid) and his team are the best in the business and they want to go for one more mission before going on vacations. The mission was to kill Torjan (Humayun Saeed) who was everything once can have in a bad guy. He abducts women, kills namazis when they are praying and deprives people of their wealth, hence is declared wajibu qatal by the Army. Asad and his men take Torjan down but not before losing their men who had families waiting for them at home and who wanted to be known as martyrs than anything else.
The Good
Every person who plays an army officer is shown as alpha male; they have girlfriends, wives, wannabe girlfriends, and fiancées waiting for them back home. Some are rich, some have Credit Cards and some have been there, done that. In midst of all the romance, there are high-quality action sequences, death-defying stunts and hand-to-hand combat which is made even better with live ammunition, tracer bullets, and aerial shots. The good wins in the end but not before losing a few good men.
The Bad
The editing and cinematography bring the downfall of Yalghaar otherwise, it could have been a game changer. There is no story or plot twist as whatever is shown on screen is exactly what the audience was expecting. It is a war film made as Hollywood war films but even they had to learn the art before going next level in the genre. The characters weren’t as developed as expected and too many stars ruined the pace of the film. The director’s willingness to please everyone in the cast was the biggest reason no one had a recall except maybe the few shaheeds.
Verdict – 3/5
Shaan Shahid is the star of the film as he gets to win the final hand-to-hand combat with Humayun Saeed, the Shaan way. Bilal Ashraf is the scene-stealer since all he does is act smart and athletic (when in the field). Ahmed Taha Ghani is the surprise of Yalghaar as he plays the comic relief as well as a macho helicopter pilot. Humayun Saeed doesn’t have much presence before the interval but after it, he dominates with his huge presence. The females – Sana Bucha, Armeena Khan, Atiya Khan, Uzma Khan and Aleeze Nasser – add colour with their looks but their roles needed more time to establish as important to the plot. Had Yalghaar been a little longer, things might have seemed better but the editor destroyed it, instead of fixing it.
