By Aayan Mirza
There maybe some more time for Pakistan film industry to get back on its feet, but what we can say now for sure is that it is at least on the right track. You don’t quite agree? Well, the number of films set to release this year may probably prove you wrong. And hey, there is a new one in the list; the road-trip romantic comedy, Karachi Se Lahore.
Starring Shahzad Sheikh, Ayesha Omar and the veterans Javed Sheikh and Rashid Naz in prominent roles, along with Eshita Syed, Ahmed Ali, Yasir Hussain, Mantaha Tareen and Ashir Wajahat in other significant roles, the film is being directed and produced by Wajahat Rauf, whose production and directorial portfolio includes TV hits like, Nikah, Soteli, Shabe Aarzoo Ka Alam and Danish Taimoor and Aieza Khan starer romantic-comedy Jab We Wed.
Yasir Hussain (also acting), has penned the film’s script, and guess whose praises he carries… of the legend himself, the great Anwar Maqsood.
Yes, you read it right. Anwar Maqsood, while talking at the film’s press launch, remarked that “Yasir has so much talent that the grief I had over Moin Akhtar’s departure has been reduced to some extent by him.”
“I had the entire story in my mind and believed that only Yasir could do justice to it. It was a pleasure working with him on this movie. His writing skills are exceptional and I am positive that audiences will truly appreciate the humour,” director Wajahat Rauf commented on his writer while talking to Galaxy Lollywood.
“The gang of 5 are going from Karachi to Lahore by road to stop a wedding. The movie is about what all they go through to get to their destination…and end up finding themselves,” Wajahat further gave a little peak into the story.
When asked whether he would give his film a full on Masla and song laden soul or a quiet and sombre feel, Wajahat said, “as a viewer, I’ve probably seen 90% of the films released in Hollywood and Bollywood since the early 80’s. I totally support parallel cinema but personally I would want to make films that entertain the audiences as there is so much trauma and distress surrounding us. I want the audience to forget what all is wrong around us and be entertained for 2 ½ hours and go home in a good mood.”
Answering a question about transitioning from television to films, and his motivation as a producer keeping in mind the ‘still-developing’ state of the film scene in Pakistan, Wajahat said, “we wrote the first draft 2 years ago and kept re-writing it till it was acceptable to both me and Yasir. Once we felt it was ready, I jumped into it. The film business in not the most attractive business model as producers only get a small share of the ticket revenue. So we save up from other projects (like tv serials) or try to get sponsors to support and bear part of the cost. But I’m sure there are a lot of crazies like me out there who will make a film regardless.”
It struck us as quite a surprise when we saw the legend, Anwar Maqsood, promoting the film at its press launch, the intrigue definitely had to be satisfied and so we asked Wajahat if we would also be seeing the humour maestro in the film, “we are trying to convince him to do a cameo. Our chances look good but you never know,” he explained.
Well, the film is already in its first week of shooting and the plan is to wrap it all up by July. After which, although it would largely depend on the distributors, but the director says they are planning an Eid or an immediate post-Eid release.
