It started with Tum Hi To Ho
Sangeeta was one of Lahore industry’s leading filmmakers during the 90s, with productions like Khilona and Nikah to her credit. These films were commercial blockbusters which did wonders for their stars. Even her 2006 venture titled Tarap was miles ahead of some very sub-standard content being churned out by her peers. Therefore one does not necessarily blame Danish when based on Sangeeta’s past credentials he signed up for her project called Tum Hi To Ho in October 2015. We do wonder though if he took a serious look at the film’s below-par screenplay and storyline, which should have been a glaring red flag.
The film’s trailers came out around mid-2016, leaving Danish’s fans horrified with the movie’s shockingly sub-par cinematography, post-production, music and even basic things like wardrobe and make-up – all of which were reminiscent of the less than spectacular fare churned towards the end of Lahore industry in the 90s.
To add insult to the injury, Tum Hi To Ho was unable to find distribution for the next few years. New multiplexes which have taken over the exhibition sector were reluctant to screen what looked like an unwanted blast from the past. Danish’s image was irreparably damaged as videos of his songs from the film, some of them shot with rather dubious looking talent on the beaches of Karachi, started doing rounds on the social media.
The film, rechristened Sirf Tum Hi To Ho, did ultimately find its way to theaters and opened to predictably scathing reviews and non-existent box office numbers. Looking back at the film’s outcome, Danish would probably have recalled stating at the film’s inception that he (at that time) was the hero commanding the priciest paycheck in the industry.
Danish Leaves Azaadi
Pitched as “Pakistan’s biggest film to date,” Azaadi was a high-profile project – a joint collaboration between Parvez Malik Films and ARY Films. Danish was selected as the lead for the venture, which boasted of photography by the Australian cinematographer Ben Jasper. However, he famously walked out of the production, losing his role to Moamar Rana.
The film’s producer Irfan Malik, at that time stated “It’s just that we need to be more professional as an industry. We are just losing out on ethics and the respect associated with film-making and that’s got to change. I will make sure both are practiced, at least on my set.” Danish, on the other hand maintained “I left that movie myself because there were just so many issues — not one single problem but about 2222 of them.”
Azaadi opened last year on Eid-ul-Fitr to a lukewarm response against another Danish Taimoor project, Wajood.
The problem with Wajood
Javed Sheikh returned to the megaphone with the romantic thriller Wajood and chose Danish Taimoor as the lead, pairing him alongside Saeeda Imtiaz and cross-border import Aditi Singh.
While the film’s Turkish locales, cinematography, and production values were impressive, critics seemed to agree that Sheikh was out of touch when it came to choosing the script and story-line, which again was outdated. Unsurprisingly, the film didn’t fare well at the box office and sank after scoring some numbers over Eid.
A case of limited choices?
So, did some questionable projects helmed by Lollywood era filmmakers negatively impact Danish’s once blossoming film career? When questioned about his film choices, Danish had said “You see we don’t have choices in Pakistan. We’re barely able to make twenty films a year. So you wait for two years and do a film, or if a mediocre film with a decent enough script comes your way, you do take it up. There’s no other option.”
Having said that, we would sincerely like to see the actor back in action in films, bringing back the magic that won him many fans in films such as Wrong No., Jalaibee and Mehrunnisa V Lub U.
