Last week, we saw a total of six releases in Pakistani cinemas. These included films like Gumm, Jackpot, Instant Family, Escape Room, K.G.F., and Do Dooni Panj. None of these six, however, could manage anything extraordinary at the box-office.

This week again, we have seven new releases and hopefully, the trade won’t disappoint as much. Among the films releasing this weekend, we have:

Accidental Prime Minister

This film explores Manmohan Singh’s tenure as the Prime Minister of India, and his control over his cabinet and the country. Anupam Kher stars in as Manmohan Singh, supported by one of Bollywood’s finest actors, Akshay Khanna. Though the film came out in India last week, in the election season, it has only been met with a lukewarm response.

GL Says: The film highlights India’s constitution and politics due to which it can expectedly face a tough time connecting with the local audience. Therefore, we don’t see much potential for box-office success here.

Even a brilliant film like Toilet Ek Prem Katha, which starred an A-Lister star like Akshay Kumar, could not find much success in Pakistan for its subject being too India-centric.

Fraud Saiyaan  

This comedy fair stars Arshad Warsi, Saurabh Shukla, and our very own, Sara Loren. Arshad Warsi plays a con artist who cons women into marrying him just to live off their money.

GL Says: The trailer of the film does promise some good quirkiness, which was expected as Arshad Warsi and Saurabh Shukla are two amazing comedy performers. The movie, however, seems like a delayed release as no Pakistani artist has performed in an Indian film for a long time.

If you are surprised how Sara Loren managed to do this, well don’t be. The film was shot before the ban on Pakistani artists in India. The circuit region may provide some face-saving to the film, but overall, it seems like a dull fair at the box-office.

122

122 is an Egyptian thriller about a couple that gets stuck on a work trip. Will they be able to come back or not, the film answers that.

GL Says: This is the first Egyptian film to release in Pakistan and therefore, we hope it succeeds and leads to creating more room for Egyptian film imports in the country. From the market’s point of view, however, the movie seems to be carrying zero buzz among the audiences. We just hope it doesn’t end up becoming the last option for people to watch in theatres.

How To Train Your Dragon – The Hidden World

How To Train Your Dragon is one of the most successful animated movie franchises of Hollywood. The first part of the series grossed over $400 million worldwide while the second installment was even bigger with its business of over $600 million.

GL Says: The current part, which is the third part of the installment, has the same famous characters, Hiccup and Toothless, venturing into new adventures. The adventures, however, end here as this will be the last part of the super successful franchise. Hence, the film might spring a surprise at the local box-office.

Glass

Glass is the sequel to two successful films, Split and Unbreakable, starring the amazing Bruce Willis, Samuel L. Jackson, and James McAvoy. It follows the story of three characters, David Dunn (Bruce Willis), Elijah Price (Samuel L. Jackson), and Kevin Wendell Crumb (James McAvoy), and shows how their paths coincide.

GL Says: With a stellar cast and the success of the previous films on its bak, Glass will definitely have a specific audience waiting for it, i.e. the multiplex going people. The movie has seen average pre-release reviews but seems unaffected in terms of the buzz it is carrying. Hence, we expect it to do well given it is allotted the right number of show.

Kaka Ji

A Punjabi language film from India, Kaka Ji is set in the 90’s when a gang, “Kale Kachia Wale,” was dominant in the region. It is a story of how Kaka Ji ( a royal family’s son) gets trapped in all the mess when he goes out to save the love of his life, Deepi.

GL Says: Punjabi movies, though, are releasing every week in Pakistan, they hardly find any takers at the box-office. We hope this one changes that, but honestly, it seems highly unlikely.

Cheat

Starring Emraan Hashmi in the lead role of a con man, Cheat is about when he decides to take advantage of the weak education system in India for money. The film is actually titled Why Cheat India, but due to censor objections in Pakistan, its title has been changed to just “Cheat.”

GL Says: Emraan Hashmi, for past few years, has not had a clean success. Although the promos of this one look promising, but then again, due to its content being very India-centric, it might find it difficult to get a good audience in Pakistan.

The film, however, will see a wide release in the country as the other runners at the box office do not seem that strong. Therefore, with good word of mouth, it does have the ability to collect some good moolah at the box-office.

No Pakistani films are releasing this weekend.

We will be back with the next week’s releases, but for now, see you at the movies.