Pakistani cinema’s second air force action-drama in recent years (first being Parwaz Hai Junoon), Sherdil has just dropped its trailer amid much anticipation. All in all, the trailer has a mass entertainer written all over it.

Starring Mikaal Zulfiqar and Hassan Niazi alongside Armeena Rana Khan and Sabika Imam, Sherdil is directed by the Janaan and Parchi fame Azfar Jaafri and written & produced by Noman Khan. It is pertinent to mention here that Sherdil will be Azfar Jafri’s second directorial offering for 2019 as Heer Maan Ja is also slated to release on Eid ul Azha this year.

Mass Entertainer

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hzeQYkNz9hQ

The film appears to have all the ingredients of a family action-drama.

The story appears quite layered which follows Mikaal’s character from his journey as a civilian to become a fighter pilot and the challenges he has to face later on both, personal and professional fronts.

From his confrontation with his foes; in this case, the Indian fighter pilot, Flight Lieutenant Varun (Hassan Niazi), of course, to his emotional challenges where he is asked to choose between his love life and his passion.

Also added are familiar elements like a love song, a club song, a shadi song, a glamorous girl (Sabeeka Imam) and last but not the least, the jet fighting sequences sauced up with some patriotic dialogues. Checking all these important boxes, Sherdil appears to be your quintessential recipe for a popcorn family action-drama (a mass entertainer of sorts), at least from its trailer.

The Yays and Nays

The emotional sequences, especially the opening scene where Samina Ahmad’s (apparently playing Mikaal’s mother) impressive dialogue delivery, the cinematography that captures the beautiful scenery of Pakistan ranging from northern areas to Gwadar and Dubai, the high octane action sequences, and the confrontations between Miakal and Niazi’s character are the real highlights of the trailer.

What seems a bit off, however, is the lesser space assigned to the leading ladies, Armeena Rana Khan and Sabika. From the looks of the trailer, both the characters seem like props in front of the leading men, but we do hope we are proven wrong when the film comes out and the ladies have equally substantial characters.

We are more hopeful in this regard also because Azfar Jafri’s films do have strong female characters as a regular feature (Janaan, Parchi, Siyah being the examples). In Sherdil trailer, however, Armeena is limited to just a song, while Sabika has a mere one dialogue in it.

Also, the music of the film isn’t given much exposure to generate the audience’s interest. Perhaps the marketing team later plans to release the songs as per their strategy, as the trailer does show a shadi and a club number.

Ideal Timing

As we had mentioned in an earlier piece, the timing and content of the film couldn’t have been more ideal with the socio-political scenario the country is sharing with India currently.

With a tightly cut trailer, Sherdil has the attention of the audience and it would be the first choice of the cinegoers on 22nd March when the film comes out. We predict this especially since Project Ghazi is delayed and the film has a wider audience appeal with a bigger face value than its competitor, Laal Kabootar.

For now, everything is in favor of Sherdil, but only the time would tell how the film fares at the box office. To do well in that regard, the film has to deliver on story, music, screenplay and all other essential fronts.