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Momina Mustehsan and Uzair Jaswal may just be dating, here’s what we know

By
Iman Ali Munshi
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Momina Mustehsan and Uzair Jaswal first made their way to the headlines together after the two announced that they were collaborating for a song titled ‘Hamesha’. When the news came out, Uzair told the following in an interview, “Momina and I go way back to school times. We always used to talk about collaborating but because I was here and busy with acting and singing, and Momina was always on the go, things didn’t seem to work out.” So the two have been childhood buds, more or less.

Prior to the news of their collaboration, the two of them sang ‘Tere Bin’ together at the Lahore Music Meet 2017 and looked rather adorable. Now it looks like, they may have taken their music relationship a notch higher by started dating. The signs may be subtle but they are there and well, haven’t escaped our eagle eyes.

Here’s what we know:

While the two of them haven’t really put up pictures with each other on their social media, we cannot help but notice a constant in a few of Momina’s recent (and also not so recent) posts; Uzair and vice versa. They are seen hanging out a lot, too.

Here is an exhibit for y’all!

https://www.instagram.com/p/Bwhcjncgixo/

Exhibit B

https://www.instagram.com/p/Bqe-KY0n5oZ/

Isn’t that caption adorable? (Hint: yes, it is!)

Now, moving on to exhibit C

https://www.instagram.com/p/BqErUr4nnFn/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link

This one is from a group hangout in Lahore.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BxkHlVanrQC/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link

Here’s hoping these two make their relationship official super soon (no pressure from our side, only if they want to but we definitely wouldn’t mind it).

What do you make of this whole situation? Let us know in the comments.

Is the ‘high concept’ formula killing creativity in the Pakistani film industry?

By
Hasnat Afridi
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“Why should I go to the cinema when I can stream it on Netflix, later on?” asked one of my university fellows when I asked him if he has seen the latest Hollywood blockbuster. If you are ever confronted with a question of this sort, here’s how to rightfully answer it.

Film marketing management has gained significant importance in the recent past, owing to a wide range of entertainment options available for people to be consumed at home. Today, a person can access a Netflix account comprising of 10,000 plus titles for a mere Rs. 1200/month at his home. He, therefore, should have a good reason to spend extra money at a cinema. Hence, marketing a film is very crucial these days and if done rightly, it can bring good results.

What is the “High Concept” formula?

To give viewers a fulfilling movie experience that will encourage them to get out of their houses, film studios worldwide adopt the “High Concept” formula. It is used by major film studios like Disney, Warner Bros., and Universal and is also practiced by the Pakistani film industry.

High-concept, a term coined by Barry Diller during his tenure at the ABC Network, is a film narrative idea which is unique yet very straightforward, can easily be communicated and easily comprehended by the public. When a motion picture is produced using “high-concept”, it becomes easily “marketable”. The connection between marketability and the high concept, therefore, is very strong.

To make it more clear, here are some examples of “High-Concept” films from Hollywood:

Titanic (1997): A film that needs no introduction, Titanic can be termed as the most successful “high-concept” film to be produced by Hollywood. It is a simple love story combined with a big tragedy which made for an immersive cinematic experience.

Jurassic Park (1998): Steven Spielberg’s classic dinosaur adventure re-defined the “high concept” formula by pushing the boundaries in storytelling with the inclusion of stunning visual effects. The film broke all records at the box-office and is considered as one of the most successful film franchise of Hollywood.

King Kong (2005): Peter Jackson’s adventure-filled thriller tells the story of a film crew trapped on an island, surrounded by a giant ape. This movie is a startling example of “high-concept” and it even had a reboot by the name of Kong: Skull Island in 2017.

Is Pakistan practicing the “high-concept” formula for its films?

Post the recent revival of cinema in Pakistan, it can be said that local filmmakers studied the techniques of “high-concept” filmmaking and adopted the framework in their multiple productions. i.e.  Sellable star cast, unique storyline, pop culture references, catchy music, and foreign locales.

Some examples of local “high-concept” films are:

Jawani Phir Nahin Ani 2 (2018): Filmed at exotic locations of Turkey and Dubai, the film tells the story of a Pakistani man who falls in love with the daughter of an Indian ambassador. We can term this film as the most successful “high-concept” Pakistani film as it exploited the “Pakistan-India” conflict which is always a hit whether in Bollywood ( Bajrangi Bhaijaan, Veer-Zaara, Ek Tha Tiger, Tiger Zinda Hai) or in Lollywood (Tere Pyar Mein, Waar, Sherdil). Moreover, the film had two major superstars Humayun Saeed and Fahad Mustafa for the first time together in a film which increased its marketability and made it the most successful motion picture of 2018. It recently achieved the benchmark of minting Rs 70 crore at the local box office.

Wrong No. (2015): Based on the classic genre of “mistaken identity”, this romantic comedy revolving around two identical persons is a case of low budgeted “high-concept” film. Despite having a fresh star cast, the film went on to become a success and gave competition to its competitor Bin Roye (starring Mahira Khan) at the box office.

3 Bahadur: Oscar winner Sharmeen Obaid Chinoy produced Pakistan’s first computer-animated feature-length “high-concept “film. The film became a success story by collecting Rs 6.5 crores at the local box office beating the record of Hollywood animated film Rio 2 in Pakistan.

The Donkey King (2018): It can be termed as a “game-changer” film.  The film was produced on a budget of Rs. 5 crores approximately but went on to gross Rs 24.05 crore at the box office. The film cleverly included several “high concept” hooks including political satire, stunning visual effects, and foot-tapping music. The film targeted children but it also created interest among the adults due to the “politically relevant” nature of its storyline.

Teefa in Trouble (2018): Ali Zafar’s debut in Pakistan film industry became the first “high-concept” film to create box office history despite releasing on a non-holiday. Without the support of any festival or holiday, the film managed to do a whopping business of Rs 40 crores at the box office.

High concept formula or the death of creativity?

While the “high-concept” formula can be termed as a clever marketing tactic, some critics term it as the death of creativity. Critics describe “high concept” as relying heavily upon the replication and combination of previously successful narratives i.e. Jawani Phir Nahi Ani 2 was a replication of the story of Jawani Phir Nahin Ani 1. Similarly, Wrong No. was a reformed Pakistani version of the Bollywood film Judwaa.

Here is what the experts have to say:

Nabeel Qureshi, the director of hits such as the Na-Maloom Afraad series, Actor In Law & the critically acclaimed Load Wedding says that he has deliberately never followed the “high-concept” formula in any of his films. He adds, “When we started working on our first feature Na Maloom Afraad back in 2014, there was no industry back then.  Therefore, we had no formula to follow as the “emergent cinema” was just starting out. NMA became a hit. I think, after a film of a certain genre becomes successful, other people start replicating the elements of the hit film in their productions to ensure success. By doing this, the “high concept” is practiced by default.”

Similarly, an independent filmmaker (requested anonymity) believes that “high-concept” can prove to be a “safe” marketing ploy in the short-run but it can be damaging in the long-run. He believes that major players like ARY and GEO need to invest in the marketing of films with unique storylines such as Laal Kabotaar and Pinky Memsaab.  He asserts that small films like these need to be marketed properly so that they reach the right audience and end up making money at the box office. This will not only promote creativity, but it will encourage people to finance in Pakistani films.

Mr. Aziz Khattak, Manager Operations, Capri Cinema, Karachi tends to disagree. He argues that cinema is a “larger than life” medium and therefore requires “high-concept” films. He shares that Capri Cinema screened arthouse films including Laal Kabotaar and Pinky Memsaab. Both of them failed to perform well at Capri. Mr. Aziz shares that their cinema is for masses and “high-concept” films are popular among them. As per him, the masses don’t find value in watching low-budget Pakistani films.

This topic will remain debatable. But “high concept” or not, the Pakistan Film Industry currently needs films throughout the year which not only entertain but make money at the box office. We can’t wait to see what the second quarter of 2019 has in store for us.

Looks like our ‘Gangster Guriya’ is inspired by Katrina Kaif and we’re not complaining

By
Kahkshaan Ismail
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As most of you are aware by now, we at GL have our eyes set on Saqib Malik’s directorial debut Baaji, that is all set to release on the 28th of June. The film’s trailer came out a while ago and truth be told, it looked spectacular. In addition to that, the three songs that have been released so far haven’t failed to amaze us either. Earlier today, the film’s much-awaited dance number starring Mehwish Hayat as the ‘Gangster Guriya’ came out.

The song is choreographed by Osman Khalid Butt and is sung by Sunidhi Chauhan. Released today, we saw our very own Mehwish Hayat grooving to the beat in this peppy number in quite a different avatar than her usual self (note: Billi, Chirya). The song is great and all and Mehwish looks real nice too but we could not help but notice an uncanny resemblance to our neighbor Bollywood’s diva Katrina Kaif and if we are honest, we are so not complaining!

Gangster Guriya vs. Katrina Kaif

As Katrina has taken the lead in dance numbers in Bollywood, we wholeheartedly believe that Mehwish is our very own Lollywood dance queen. We even did an entire piece on it. You can read it here.

The newly released song ‘Gangster Guriya’ seems quite heavily inspired by ‘Swag Se Swagat’ and ‘Husn Parcham’ and between us, we don’t think it’s a bad thing. Looks like our choreographer Osman Khalid Butt is a huge Katrina buff.

Beginning with Mehwish and Katrina’s khaki clothes, the two look quite the same. From the shorts to the hair and makeup, everything seems a bit too inspired. Here is an exhibit for y’all!

Similarly, the leg movements during the song give a sense of deja vu for they have a striking resemblance to Katrina’s signature move in many of her songs. Check it out for yourself.

Moving on, the curly hair (please refer to the article’s cover image) reminds us of Katrina’s hair in Zero‘s ‘Husn Parcham’. Also, we think the biggest factor that gives the song a heavy Bollywood-Katrina inspired feel is the vocals, that are given by the Indian singer Sunidhi Chauhan, as we mentioned earlier. She wraps the song in her raw-voice-aura, rather brilliantly.

What do you think of these similarities? Let us know in the comments.

A new Moammer Rana film released this Eid-ul-Fitr and it has actually done pretty well

By
Uzair Anwer
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Moammar Rana, an acclaimed actor and a darling of the masses in the 90s, reinvented himself with his comeback film, Azaadi (2018) opposite Sonia Hossain. Based on the backdrop of the Kashmir turmoil, Mommer played a militant who had patriotism running in his veins. The actor was praised for his modern-day, larger than life portrayal of a hero.

Although the film performed underwhelmingly at the box-office, Moammar was praised for his efforts of going bigger and better in terms of production and style. However, just when we thought the said star had left the culture of incessant mujra numbers and gandasas, Moammar decided to prove us all wrong.

Moammar Rana brings back the gandasa culture

This Eid-ul-Fitr, while we were all focused on Chhalawa and Wrong No. 2, Moammar’s film Shareekay Di Ag also made its way to a rather limited number of screens across Punjab. Before we delve into the numbers the film has earned, it is imperative to first look at what Shareekay Di Ag is all about. The film, directed by Ghulam Hussain Tonsvi and written by Nasir Adeeb, is produced by Umar Productions and boasts an ensemble cast with the actress-dancer Khushboo and the legend, Sultan Rahi’s son Haider Sultan in the main cast with Moammar being the biggest face of the film.

The film is a revenge saga and takes the viewers back to the 90s and early 2000s gandasa culture which Sultan Rahi convincingly cultivated in the hearts of the masses. Interestingly, the film has also taken some cinematic liberties such as the fictional interpretation of villages in Pakistan and the ghunda gardi culture, etc. The film is unrealistic, yes! But that’s not the main problem.

Shareekay Di Ag makes good numbers despite its many problems

Before we delve into the many facets of the film, it is important to note that Shareekay Di Ag initially faced problems with the local censor board due to its obscene content, rampant violence and abusive language used in the film’s narrative, before it could be cleared for a release. The story doesn’t here, unfortunately.

While our contemporary filmmakers are going an extra mile to deliver quality content and good production value, Shareekay Di Ag objectifies women in not so great ways. Girls flashing themselves in the hero’s face, dancing in skimpy clothes with men swooning all over them, the film also goes all out with violent scenes, villains lynching heroes and guns being used as ornaments.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VpYP3rt09yk

The film’s language is Punjabi and that has been misused, on numerous occasions, in the film by overtly using explicit words and vulgar dialogues. Our Punjabi film-makers keep forgetting that it is 2019 and while we understand that every movie has a different audience, objectifying women and glorifying guns are not considered reflective of our authentic Punjabi culture, anymore.

Despite everything, however, the film has done rather well on the box office, by earning approximately one crore rupees, as per a few reports that have been circulating around. This number is actually not bad, considering the film was only released on limited screens across Punjab. The numbers roughly translate to the fact that films such as these do have an audience in the country but sometimes, numbers shouldn’t be the only force driving the content. It is about time that our filmmakers take an initiative to break this cycle.

A final word

Towards the end, it is important to note that Lollywood is in a revival phase and has been churning out massive money spinners like Punjab Nahi Jaungi and Jawani Phir Nahi Aani 2. Moreover, the industry has lately also been high on some solid content films like Sanam Saeed and Aamina Sheikh starrer Cake (2018). In these times, it would make sense to not make rather regressive films such as these. Punjabi films don’t always have to fit the stereotypes built around them. In fact, they should be striving to do the opposite.

Is ‘Baaji’ reviving Lollywood’s golden era’s classics through its music album?

By
Hassan Hassan
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Saqib Malik’s Meera-Amna Ilyas starer Baaji is this year’s one of the most anticipated films. With its release date approaching (that’d be 28th of June), the buzz surrounding the film is only growing and Zeb Bangash’s recently released track Badlaan has further augmented it.

Badlaan is the second released and overall the fourth track that we know of, from the film’s album, until now. While it is being said that the song was originally featured in a 1977 Punjabi flick Danka starring Sultan Rahi, Neelo and Mustafa Qureshi, the melody in Baaji is actually original (more on it in the following paragraphs). 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gMP4W3PGQYI

The earlier known songs from Baaji, Khilti Kali and Ye Aaj Mujhko Kia Hua, are also old classics, recreated for the film while a jazz track featured in the trailer Sham Akeli ( yet to be released) is inspired from a Hollywood classic.

Does Baaji only feature renditions of old classics?

What’s interesting regarding the film’s music album is that until now, all the released songs are old classics which are essentially redone for Baaji. This brings us to our question; are all the songs from Baaji remixes/renditions of old classics?

In order to address our question, we got in touch with Saqib Malik himself to get an idea of what the film’s music album is all about and whether all the songs in the film are, in fact, remixes. Here is what he had to say:

“We have a total of 8 tracks in the film. Only Khilti Kali and Ye Aaj Mujhko Kia Hua are reproductions [of old classics]. The rest of them are all originals. The Tafu Sahib’s compositions, however, are yet to be released.”

“The latest song Badlaan is actually an original melody and so are the lyrics for the most part. Our main refrain “Badlaan ich aj mainu guddi wangon sajna udaai ja” is very different from the old Punjabi song, however. We have taken a poetic refrain that’s common in Punjabi and have used it according to a new composition. Also, the original song was a mujra. For Baaji, however, we wanted a very heart tugging acoustic feel that’s why Badlaan is an original and has nothing to do with Udaai Ja except a similar refrain, but the refrain here is used in a totally different context,” explained Saqib Malik. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=94kCYW1YgV8

As for the two songs composed by Tafu Sahab – one of Lollywood’s most famous music directors from the 90s and before – Saqib said, “The songs done by Tafu Sahib are original and created specifically for Baaji. One is part of the background score, while the other one is filmed on Meera as a stage dance number.”

The case of the jazz number

As mentioned earlier, there is also a jazz number by Zeb Bangash – choreographed by Wahab Shah with a waltz dance sequence – as seen in the trailer.

The fact that jazz music is done very rarely in Pakistani films, combined with its unique choreography, the song will definitely catch the attention of musical connoisseurs when released. It is said to be inspired by Peggy Lee’s classic You Give Me Fever. Saqib started by mentioning this inspiration yet maintained that Baaji‘s song is still an original one.

“Originally, we were going to do an official cover version of “Fever” in English but then we decided to do an Urdu song infused with jazz. It’s entirely original and you can compare it to “Fever” [when it’s released]. “Fever” was a starting point but of course, what we ended up with, has a flavor and an identity of its own,” told Saqib.

“Zeb Bangash and Saad Sultan, who produced the song, had proper horns (trumpets, saxophone, etc.) played by musicians in New York. We wanted an authentic jazz sound and not just something created electronically. In fact, we have used a lot of original instrumentation in all our music for a deeper, more organic sound,” Saqib further told GL. 

Why old classics, in particular?

In a question regarding whether the decision for the music album to contain mostly old songs carried a reason, Saqib had the following to say: 

“The use of remixes was to pay tribute to an era when our film music ruled the airways. Also because the film has a backdrop of the film industry and Meera plays a film star, we thought it would be filmi to reproduce film classics that I loved growing up. And more than anything, I feel our old music is z national treasure and a part of our cultural identity and heritage. India, so successfully exploits their old music, making it palatable to a whole new generation of music lovers, so I thought why not us? I really want people to know what glorious music our industry made [back in the day].” 

Saqib’s intention to generate a newer interest in our younger generation for our long forgotten film heritage that spans nearly a century already seems to be successful. After the release of Baaji‘s version of Don’t be Silly, the original one on Youtube saw an exponential increase in its views and comments for earlier, the views were just a few hundred.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5l77Wk-J8EA

The present generation isn’t interested in oldies until they are remade into something which they find relatable and contemporary. The success of Baaji‘s music is just a prime example of that.

It’s about time other filmmakers also gave attention to bringing the golden era of the Pakistani cinema, back to life.

Veena Malik and Sania Mirza got into a Twitter fight last night, here’s what went down

By
Momina Mindeel
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Sunday witnessed Pakistan losing to India in the Cricket World Cup 2019 and all hell broke loose. Tweets were exchanged, a lot was said and done but the story didn’t end there.

Last night, someone on Twitter shared a video of Sania Mirza sitting at what looked like a Sheesha cafe with her husband Shoaib Malik, her son and a few others. Sania was not at all happy at this blatant breach of her privacy.

This is where Veena Malik jumped into the conversation. She called Sania out for taking her son to a sheesha cafe and also asked if going out for junk food was good for her as an athlete/athlete’s wife and a mother.

Sania didn’t take someone schooling her on how to be a good mom or a good wife very well, and rightfully so. I mean Shoaib and Sania are adults, if they wanted to have junk food, so be it.

The situation was aggravated further after Sania referred to Veena’s ‘not so decent’ magazine shoots but then deleted her tweet but Veena was quick to notice it.

Sania refused to indulge in the conversation any further and blocked Veena (YIKES!).

But Veena went on to make another Twitter thread and talked about how it was high time people stopped bringing her past that she has tried hard to move on from (that is a rather fair point).

Last but not least, Shoaib Malik also jumped into the conversation yesterday and urged everyone to not drag athletes’ families into petty discussions.

What do you think of this feud between Sania and Veena? Let us know in the comments.

Exclusive: Yesteryear’s Punjabi superstar Anjuman just re-married and here are the details

By
Hassan Hassan
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If you have been following Pakistani cinema of the 90s and before, your unacquaintance with a name like Anjuman is impossible. One of the most sought after Punjabi film heroines of Pakistan during the 1980s and early 1990s, Anjuman maintained a rather low-key profile when the cinema of her age began undergoing a decline.

While it may take some time for the audiences to see Anjuman on screens again, her personal life has witnessed an important event just recently.

Yesteryear’s Punjabi superstar Anjuman re-marries

Anjuman has remarried after a gap of around six years, to a Lahore based film actor Lucky Ali. Anjuman’s new husband has acted in a handful of the 90s and early 2000s Lollywood films, most of which remain unknown to current cine-goers for obvious reasons. However, he was cast opposite actors like Saima (Raka) and Meera (Billa) during Lollywood’s severe economic and creatively distraught period. 

As for Anjuman, she earlier married at the peak of her career to an income tax commissioner, Mobin Malik, and gave birth to three kids; two sons and a daughter. After her career decline, she moved to the United Kingdom with her family. Unfortunately, her husband was murdered in 2013 on the Eid day, while he was vacationing in Lahore at his relatives.

A little something on Anjuman herself

Anjuman’s real name is Anjuman Shaheen and she was born in Bahawalpur. While her parents hailed from Ahmadpur East, they later settled in Multan and Lahore. Her younger sister Gori has also acted in many films.

Anjuman’s career spanned over 20 years that included more than 300 films. She debuted in the Urdu film, Soorath (1973) co-starring with Waseem Abbas while her last was a Punjabi flick in the year 2000,  titled Peengan.

Her notable roles in films like Sher Khan and Chan Varyam (1981) and a supporting role in the film Sala Sahib earned her, her widespread acclaim. All three were diamond jubilee hit films, released the same day; a unique record which she shared with her colleague Sultan Rahi.

Cherry on top, Anjuman was also seen in action films; riding horses, driving motorbikes and doing stunts thus giving a new dimension to female roles in Lollywood, which previously mostly consisted of coy and innocent girls. Fortunately, that’s not it. Her roles ranged extensively from a traditional village girl to a HiFi sexy bombshell, and from romantic to action-packed avatars.

Anjuman remained the darling of the working classes, mostly male adults who frequented cinema in that era. With a figure of a traditional strong Punjabi woman, combined with her dancing skills, she ruled the screens of Punjab for decades. Anjuman’s career began declining with the murder of the superstar Sultan Rahi in 1996. She was paired with multiple actors later on, that included Shan and Saud but the magic she had with Rahi could never be recreated.

We at GL wish Anjuman a happy life ahead.

Box Office: ‘Chhalawa’ and ‘Wrong No. 2’ fizzle out in their second weekend

By
Momina Mindeel
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Eid-ul-Fitr, this year, fell on a Wednesday which allowed all the Eid releases a good 5 day Eid weekend and a first week run of 9 days straight, at the box office. Capitalizing on this, both Chhalawa and Wrong No. 2 raked in big numbers at the box office over the 5-day Eid weekend and recorded decent numbers in the following days, adding up to strong week 1 numbers.

However, the second weekend ended yesterday and both the films have fizzled out as they were not able to sustain at the box office and have recorded mediocre numbers. Here is the breakdown for both the films:

Wrong No. 2

The film which started off well in terms of numbers in its first week slowed down in its second week. The 9-day collection (over the extended week 1) for the film came out to be a good 13 crore 50 lacs. Now after the second week where it brought in 1.75 crore, Wrong No. 2 is almost nearing the 15 crore mark. The film’s business suffered on Sunday, on account of the Pakistan – India match.

Below is the film’s estimated business, so far:

1st weekend: 10. 6 crore (Wednesday to Sunday)
Remaining days: 2.9 crore
First week: 13.5 crore

2nd Weekend: 1.75 crore
Total: 14. 85 crore

The film’s trend over the coming weekdays will determine if it will hit the 20 crore mark. Guess, we’ll have to wait and watch.

Chhalawa

Of the two Eid releases, Chhalawa came second in the collections race as it collected a total of 12 crores and 45 lacs over the 9 day Eid week. Chhalawa, as expected, has performed the best in Punjab region with Lahore leading in collections while other cities, especially Rawalpindi/Islamabad region are doing pretty well too. As for the second weekend, the drop (compared to the first weekend) has been over 78 percent which is honestly, very massive.

Below is the film’s estimated business, so far:

1st weekend: 10. 4 crore (Wednesday to Sunday)
Remaining days: 2.05 crore
First week: 12.45 crore

2nd Weekend: 1.4 crore
Total: 13. 85 crore

The films will hit the 15 crore mark in the coming week. Let’s wait and see how the situation unfolds.

These box office numbers are given by an independent box office tracking site EPK Pakistan.

Mehwish Hayat and Meera might be shaking a leg together in ‘Baaji’

By
Maisooma Batool
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The trailer for Baaji has been released and we must say the almost three minutes extravaganza has us extremely excited for the movie. The film promises to be a full-fledged drama on the backdrop of the Pakistani film industry. With Meera Jee absolutely owning every frame she was featured in, and actors like Osman Khalid Butt, Amna Ilyas, Ali Kazmi, Mohsin Abbas amongst many other prominent faces making up the cast, Baaji seems to have gathered all our favorites in one place.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P25RH1tI6EU

One of the surprise names in this list is our very own billi – Mehwish Hayat. We’ll tell you why we think that might be the case. 

Almost an hour ago, ARY Digital shared a poster with a vague female figure (who could very well be Mehwish Hayat). The caption of the post reads: “The latest song #GangsterGurya from #BaajiTheFilm is releasing on *Wednesday 19th June 2019* & will definitely make you groove to its beats‼️”

https://www.instagram.com/p/ByzibHpAezM/

Mehwish Hayat, Meera Jee shaking a leg together

While no official confirmation has been made so far, our sources have revealed that there is a special song number shot for the film that features Mehwish Hayat shaking a leg with Meera Jee. The exact nature of the song is still kept a surprise; it could be an item song or just be used as a promotional song for the film. Cherry on top, that’s not all. The song has been choreographed by none other than the multitalented Osman Khalid Butt.

Osman made his debut as a choreographer with last year’s hit song Billo Hai in the film Parchi, for which he has been nominated at the LSAs as well. Additionally, he has choreographed two songs for the upcoming Eid-ul-Azha release; Heer Maan Jaa as well. And now with him getting to choreograph Meera and Mehwish together, Osman seems to be really enjoying his role as a choreographer. We also suspect that the following post by Osman on his Instagram alluded to this special song, as well. 

https://www.instagram.com/p/BuOM8bBA5YO/

While the subsequent promotions would tell us more clearly about the details of the movie, we know by now that the film is a proper musical with many songs. If all the glimpses of many emotions shown in the trailer and the released songs are to be believed, we can safely assume that the album of the movie would be a memorable one. Some of the confirmed songs in the album are a mujra number, a ballroom dance number, and a party song. 

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

Well, one of the songs in the album is going to bring Meera Jee and Mehwish Hayat together and setting the screen on fire. Whatever the song turns out to be, we are sure of one thing that it is going to be a sight to behold watching two icons of the Pakistani cinema sharing the same screen. And we cannot wait for that!

Let’s wait and see how the situation unfolds on Wednesday.

Box Office: Both ‘Chhalawa’ and ‘Wrong No.2’ record good numbers over the 9-day extended week 1

By
Uzair Anwer
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Eid-ul-Fitr, this year, fell on a Wednesday which allowed all the Eid releases a good 5 day Eid weekend and a first week run of 9 days straight, at the box office. Chhalawa and Wrong No. 2 were the two big local Eid releases, accompanied by three Hollywood releases Godzilla: King of Monsters, Aladdin and Secret Life of Pets 2. 

Wrong No. 2

Image result for wrong no.2 poster

Firstly, as for Wrong No. 2, the film started off well in terms of numbers and continued its winning collections over the coming days, making it the highest local grosser of 2019. The total 9-day collection for the film has come out to be a good 13 crore 50 lacs. The film witnessed drops on weekdays but still managed to deliver decent numbers at the box-office. Now that the first week is over, it is the content as well as a positive word of mouth that will decide its fate, in the coming weeks. The film has done really well in Karachi, Rawalpindi/Islamabad and some mass regions of Lahore.

Below is the film’s estimated business, so far:

Wednesday: 1.6 crore
Thursday: 2.6 crore
Friday: 2.55 crore
Saturday: 2.25 crore
Sunday: 1.6 crore
Monday: 0.80 crore
Tuesday: 0.65 crore
Wednesday: 0.55 crore                                                                                     Thursday: 0.50 crore                                                                                                   Total: 13.5 crore

Chhalawa

Related image

Of the two Eid releases, Chhalawa came second in the collections race as it collected a total of 12 crores and 45 lacs over the 9 day Eid weekend. The first two weekdays witnessed dwindling collections however it remained steady on lower levels in the following weekdays. Chhalawa, as expected, has performed the best in Punjab region with Lahore leading in collections while other cities, especially Rawalpindi/Islamabad region are doing pretty well too.

Below is the film’s estimated business, so far:

Wednesday: 1.5 crore
Thursday: 2.5 crore
Friday: 2.4 crore
Saturday: 2.3 crore
Sunday: 1.7 crore
Monday: 0.6 crore
Tuesday: 0.55 crore
Wednesday: 0.45 crore
Thursday: 0.45 crore
Total: 12.45 crore

A final word

This year’s Eid releases managed to achieve success at the box-office thanks to an extended 5 day Eid weekend. Furthermore, if we compare these collections with last year’s Eid-ul-Fitr collections, these two have fared way better. But, last year’s Eid fell on a Saturday while this year, it was on a Wednesday so Chhalawa and Wrong No. 2 luckily got a longer Eid week.

7 Din Mohabbat In ended its run last year at about 10-11 crore whereas Azaadi also made about 10 crores in its lifetime whereas films this year crossed the 10 crore mark in the first five days of release already which shows that the Eid week was fruitful for everyone involved.

The decline over the weekdays was expected and now where the lifetime of both these films end depends on how the films perform in the second week.

These box office numbers are given by an independent box office tracking site EPK Pakistan.

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