By: Omair Alavi Pakistan’s once-ailing film industry is now standing tall on its feet, especially after the release of Project Ghazi’s Trailer. The film starring Humayun Saeed and Sheheryar Munawwar is going to the first superhero flick produced by Pakistan in recent years and the first since Shanee that featured (another) Sherry – Sheheryar Malik…
SAMAA | Omair Alavi – Posted: Jun 20, 2017 | Last Updated: 4 years ago
By: Omair Alavi
Pakistan’s once-ailing film industry is now standing tall on its feet, especially after the release of Project Ghazi’s Trailer. The film starring Humayun Saeed and Sheheryar Munawwar is going to the first superhero flick produced by Pakistan in recent years and the first since Shanee that featured (another) Sherry – Sheheryar Malik – as the leading man. It has all the ingredients of a ‘Made As Hollywood’ film and people are already waiting for its release after the powerful trailer.
What I Make of The Plot
The plot seem to be inspired from Hollywood flicks where a hero – weak, injured or dead – is given super powers to combat the enemy in the field. While Hollywood people can afford for that superhero to go rogue, we are new to the concept hence once a hero, always a hero might prevail. Adnan Jaffar might be the failed earlier experiment who takes revenge by killing all involved in the project and is stopped by our heroes played by Humayun Saeed and Sheheryar Munawwar.
The Good
First of all, the film marks the full-fledged return of Talat Hussain to films – the last time he had a major role was in the 90s. Since then he has worked exclusively on TV and theatre besides making guest appearances in hits like Jinnah and Actor In Law. One look at the trailer will make you realize the importance of an actor who has a great voice and range of expressions. He doesn’t do much but one thing is certain – his fans (including this scribe) will be most happy to see him anchor the young actors and take command in Talat Hussain style. Then there is Sheheryar Munawwar who looks like a Back-from-the-War soldier aka Ghazi; it remains to be seen if he is a Super Soldier ala Captain America or one like Six Million Dollar Man – whatever he might be, the chocolate hero Sherry looks good as a Soldier of Fortune.
And then there is Humayun Saeed, the He Man of Pakistani films who is at the prime of his career. From the trailer it looks like that he is playing mentor to Sherry and in the few scenes, he takes you back into the days of Young Angry Men. Adnan Jaffar brings enormous amount of negativity to the table and for a film of such magnitude, that was more than necessary. You can see Aamir Qureshi in the trailer as well and although it looks like he might be one of the bad guys (thanks to his previous roles), he actually plays a good guy ala Q in James Bond. What looks amazing are the locations used and the enemy robots, something that hasn’t happened before in a Pakistani film
The Bad
Syra Shahroz doesn’t appeal much in the trailer and her role doesn’t look any different from Chalay Thay Saath where she played a good-looking doctor in love. Here she is again playing a doctor ala Jennifer Connelly in Hulk and sets out to seek the truth behind the confidential Project Ghazi. She is seen carrying a gun and one hopes that she fares well than Ayesha Khan who disappointed as the analyst who could do everything from disarming a bomb to cracking computer codes. There was no mention of Nusrat Hidayatullah in the trailer although she featured prominently in the teaser; there is however a glimpse of Tatmain ul Qulb who has featured in a handful of films before this one.
Verdict – 4/5
Although Nadir Shah (director) and producer Ali Raza are new to feature films, they have produced a few commercials as well as short films. To make such a movie, a director with fresh perspective was needed and one hopes that Nadir fulfills that requirement. There are a few issues with the trailer (technical and sound) but the visuals surpass them all. The film is all set to be released on July 14th, 2017 and one wishes it succeeds, so others can venture into the superhero genre as well and make Pakistan proud.
