News Bits: As the Mighty September Begins

The Delay:

The biggest news as the ‘Mighty September’ begins is a little sad one. Upcoming indie film Zinda Bhaag, which was initially marked for a 6th September–Friday release, has been hit with a little delay. But don’t turn your sad mood on instantly, the good news is that the film hasn’t gone much far on its new release date, as it will now be releasing on 20th of this month.

In an official press statement to us on Facebook, the message from the team read, “Due to the backlog of films in the cinemas and delays in the release of previous films, Zinda Bhaag will now be released on 20th September. Qismet se ziada nahin, Waqt se pehley nahin”.

Well, we hope the decision was taken keeping the best interest of the film and everyone involved in mind, and we also hope that the date will not be stretched further.

Release Time:

Another long-awaited indie film, this one starring Aamina Sheikh, Mohib Mirza and Gohar Rasheed, is finally opening its wings to hit theatres near you for a commercial release this September. Yes, you guessed it so right….and you saw the poster…and you read the news somewhere else too, but anyway, yes, it is Seedlings and the movie has finally been booked for cinema release in Pakistan on 20th September. Thanks to this smartly named brainchild, The Platform, of Mr. Jarjees Seja of ARY Media group and ARY Films and Mr. Nadeem Mandviwalla of Mandviwalla Entertainment, the movie can finally make it to a national release. In this way, September 20 is going to see the release of two films, Seedlings and Zinda Bhaag. Man, that’s going to be interesting.

“We are so thrilled that we are able to finally show the film at home for the people it was made for. Due credit goes to the stellar cast and crew of our film and kudos to initiatives such as The Platform, leading the charge on the distribution and exhibition front, a segment of the industry that was previously under-developed,” director Meher Jaffri said talking to Express Tribune.

Going International:

Although it is not officially confirmed yet, but the recently released Humayun Saeed, Mahnoor Balouch, Noman Habib starrer Main Hoon Shahid Afridi is going to get released internationally on 13th September 2013. At least this is what the film’s IMDB page reads. Release updates on the movie’s IMDB page suggest us that it will be releasing in Australia, Canada, USA, UK, and UAE on 13th of this month. But again, it isn’t entirely confirmed yet, and as it is not official, no specifics have been released so far.

As soon as something official comes up on this, we will update you right here on this site.

Box Office Report:

Releasing on 23rd August 2013, the first week box office numbers of Main Hoon Shahid Afridi are here. The film earned around Rs. 22 million during its first week run at different cinemas of the country. The figures were collected and calculated by Express Tribune, which commented in its piece on the numbers to be more than what Chambaili earned but less than what was initially expected of the film.

“Despite controversies, unnecessary delays and the overwhelming and continuing success of Chennai Express, Humayun Saeed’s Main Hoon Shahid Afridi has earned Rs. 22 million in its first week of release (exact figures: Rs. 21,836,941). This is more than the total business of the much-hyped Chambaili but less than what was expected of the film.” Reads the article on Express Tribune.

The point that these one week collections of MHSA are more than the entire business of Chambaili is factually wrong, as Chambaili‘s total business stands somewhere around Rs. 85-100 million, and the mistake can be nothing more than a mere human error.

Anyway, we hope you enjoyed all these updates, we will leave you here with the Facebook video link of this newly released OST of Seedlings named, Jab Koi, by Zoe Viccaji and Omran Shafique: