*Drum rolls.*
The fourth edition of Galaxy Lollywood Awards has concluded with all its glory. The people voted for their favorite films and performances in 20 categories in Pakistan’s first of its kind online people choice awards and let their voices be heard.
Without further ado, here are the nominations and winners of Luxus Grand 4th Galaxy Lollywood Awards 2018.
There is no stopping this girl!
While we were not yet done celebrating the roaring success of Saba Qamar’s debut Bollywood film ‘Hindi Medium’ which has done phenomenally well in China, the actress has apparently already embarked on her next project and this one’s even bigger.
Yes, as per sources the talented actress has signed a major Hollywood film and will soon be flying to the US to commence shooting. While not many details are known about this project our sources suggest that the diva will be starring opposite a major Hollywood A-lister with Ben Affleck being a name that is making the rounds. The actress is currently holed up in Lahore where she is taking voice and diction training for her big debut.
We contacted Saba to confirm the news but the actress is tight-lipped and chose not to confirm or deny the news. Looks like she is waiting for the right time as she may be bound by a non-disclosure agreement. Anyhow, we would like to congratulate Saba on this feat and cannot wait to hear it from her 🙂
Stay tuned to Galaxy Lollywood for more updates.
Movie Name: Motorcycle Girl
Release Date: April 20, 2018
Director: Adnan Sarwar
Review by: Sameer Anwar
Adnan Sarwar’s biopic of Zenith Irfan’s solo journey from Lahore to Khunjerab, Motorcycle Girl (played by Sohai Ali Abro), is a story of admirable determination and unwavering perseverance. It is a story about creating your world to be one that you want to live in.
We cannot vouch for the authenticity of these box office numbers given by independent box office tracking site Box Office Detail. However, until we have some official box-office tracking system in Pakistan this is all we have got. The numbers are also revised at times and hence you may observe fluctuations.
The biopic of Zenith Irfan, ‘Motorcycle Girl’, directed by Shah-famed Adnan Sarwar, failed to take a good start at the box office and received a lukewarm response on the opening weekend. It could not perform much better than its predecessor Shah, which was released on Independence Day three years ago on a similar scale.
The Sohai Ali Abroo starer opened to gloomy 20 lac, which is even less than the opening of Shah. The film saw a minor increase on Saturday, which could not be sustained on Sunday. The three-day gross of the film tallied to 65 lac only, just 5 lac more than the opening weekend collections of Shah.
The breakdown of three-day collections of ‘Motorcycle Girl’ is as follows:
Limited promotions and lack of buzz are two key factors behind the dismal box office performance of the film. Despite having strong social message and superior production quality, the film could not garner much public interest. Although women-centric films are less likely to be hits, but recent examples of Verna and Cake show that if such films are marketed properly then these can perform exceedingly well at the unpredictable box office.
We hope it will be another learning experience for the makers of biopics Shah and Motorcycle Girl.
Sohai Ali Abro first made an appearance on the silver screen in 2015 with two very diverse characters in two films which did exceedingly well at the box office. She won Best Actress awards competing alongside Mehwish Hayat and was definitely the new darling of the masses, and one of the most sought-after faces in the industry.
But post the success she disappeared from the scene, barring a tv project or two, leaving fans shocked and industry insiders confused. There were varying theories for this mysterious sabbatical but none confirmed until now when the actress is back on the scene with her next film Motorcycle Girl. Our Editor Momin Ali Munshi met with the actress and here are excerpts from a candid conversation with the diva.
The last time I met you was when Jawani Phir Nahi Ani had come out and the Sohai I met then was cheerful, bubbly and kind of naive…
Sohai: (cuts in) So you don’t think I’m naive now?
Umm… not really. The Sohai I see now knows what she wants, is focused and has a no f**** to give sort of an attitude. What brought about this change?
Nothing, it’s just that with time you grow up. I was 21 when I was shooting those films, I’m 24 now. So I feel when you grow you find what your essence is and you find your calling and what you want to do with life. Also as an actor, when you come in, you have to prove yourself and do certain kind of roles, certain scripts, for people to know that you have it in you and I did that with both those films. After that, I did not want to be stereotyped as the arm candy or chaar thumkay kay liyay sort of a character, I did not want to do that so I waited it out.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BhrqarKHmEE/?taken-by=galaxylollywood
Is that why you were missing from the scene?
Actually, I was working on a script that did not end up getting made and it got shelved. Also, yeah the kind of work that was coming to me otherwise I did not want to compromise.
But even on the personal front, you were quite inactive on social media.
I have never been very big on social media, I’m not obsessed with it! It’s amazing it’s fun but I would rather work on my skill and my craft, and what I do rather than posting pictures.
Don’t you think such a hiatus was a risky move?
Yes, as an actor it is quite a risk but it was not intentional. People say we want to see you more, even I want to work more and to be on the sets daily but for that the content and the project should be up to mark! And trust me, saying no isn’t easy.
When you say no to a project, you lose that money, that project, and additionally, it will go to some other actress. I know people, who out of greed will do everything, just so the project doesn’t go to anyone else. I, on the other hand, recommend other actors names when people come to me with certain projects and at times people take it personally and get offended when I say no! I’ve faced quite some repercussions, and lots of people say I’m difficult. Well, if caring about your work means being difficult, I would want to stay difficult. I don’t want to be easy breezy, tyaar ho kar glamorous ban kar do jumlay, char thumkay maro aur chali jao! That is not me and that is not something that I would want to do.
So do you regret doing Wrong No. where you kind of were the arm candy in a stereotypical role?
Absolutely not! I own up to everything I have done. I am not ashamed of what I have done. I think they were amazing films and at that point in my career that was perfect for me.
So amongst the films that have come out recently which film you saw and wished you were a part of?
I haven’t seen ‘Cake’ but I have heard great things about it so yeah Cake.
You’re making your comeback with ‘Motorcycle Girl’ which is a niche/off-beat film and let’s be real, such films don’t fare that well at the box office. Choosing this as your comeback, do you think was the right move?
I don’t think comeback should be the word. I’m not a Madhuri Dixit who got married, had kids and is coming back to the screen. This two-year hiatus was not intentional I was doing a film, it didn’t work out and that’s it.
But you never went on record to tell what film that was.
Please don’t get offended, but I don’t think its necessary. Recently, there was this other film that I was shooting for and then there were some creative differences and my dates didn’t work out so I left that film. I never like talking about projects that I leave, I think its very derogatory and not graceful to say I rejected this and that. It’s important to talk about projects that you are doing.
What is next for you after Motorcycle Girl?
I have no idea, have a few scripts lying on my table.
So that Fahim Burney film, Love London Sialkot, not happening?
No, not from my side.
But you signed that film?
No, I haven’t. They, the makers, came to me and said we want to make a film and I’ve worked with Fahim so many times, but as yet there is no decision because they haven’t started the production yet and I haven’t even read the script.
But Dawn reported that Sohai has signed the film.
That is irresponsible journalism, it was not from my end! They think they can write whatever and get away with it because we are actors, but we are fully aware of what is happening. I did not want to comment on it because I didn’t think it was important so yeah.
Just thinking out loud. I felt you had a rather condescending tone as far as commercial films were concerned so do we not get to see you in such a film because lots of people loved you in JPNA and Wrong No. and would want more of that Sohai
Not condescending at all! I am an actor, I love such films. I’m big on dancing, I enjoy songs, glamor, and comedy. You will hopefully see me in a light-hearted comedy film real soon. But right now I am the Motorcycle girl and its all about this genre!
https://www.instagram.com/p/BhrtwkhHMBX/?hl=en&taken-by=galaxylollywood
So last question, why should people go see Motorcycle Girl?
Come see this film because it’s a different film, it’s a true story and is a female-centric film and we haven’t made many such films. Female characters in our films are mostly one-dimensional so this film is not that. A heroine can dance and be glamorous but her character can also be layered and interesting. So go watch it
Movie Name: Cake
Release Date: March 30, 2018
Director: Asim Abbasi
Review by: Momin Al Munshi
This has to be my most challenging review as to date, and that doesn’t even have anything to do with the movie itself. It all stemmed from the piece I wrote a few days back asking a question that ‘Do Pakistani Cinemas Need Films Like Cake‘ which was generally about the current state of Pakistani Cinema, its future, and a dire need for commercial films. People assumed that the article was anti-Cake just having read the title, although I hadn’t even seen the film when I wrote the piece, and the article was about the bigger picture and quite honestly, you would understand my skepticism had you seen all Pakistani films that came out in the last few months!
We cannot vouch for the authenticity of these box office numbers given by independent box office tracking site Box Office Detail. However, until we have some official box-office tracking system in Pakistan this is all we have got. The numbers are also revised at times and hence you may observe fluctuations.
Debuting director Asim Abbasi’s ‘Cake’ passes the box office test with flying scores despite facing cut-throat competition from foreign contenders and low expectations.
The family drama, starring Aamina Sheikh, Sanam Saeed, Adnan Malik, and Mikaal Zulfiqar, is the only Pakistani film which released last week amid the slew of foreign films being played in the cinemas. The film was released in parallel with Bollywood action thriller Bhaagi 2, which joined other former Bollywood releases, i.e. Raid, Hichki, and Sonu Ke Titu Ki Sweety.
‘Cake’ opened slightly low on Friday and collected paltry 30 lacs on the first day. This does not come as a big surprise as the film lacked commercial appeal and had to contend with Baaghi 2, which was released to houseful theaters. The film, however, saw a surprisingly good trend on the rest of the weekend when it collected 35 lacs and 45 lacs on Saturday and Sunday, respectively. This upward trend helped the film to register a decent opening weekend, bringing its three-day collections to 1.1 crore.
The following weekdays again turned out surprisingly good in terms of the trend at the box office. ‘Cake’ saw an expected drop on Monday but the graph continually rose on the remaining weekdays, which is rare for a Pakistani movie. The film collected 15 lacs on Monday, 19 lacs on Tuesday, 22 lacs on Wednesday, and 24 lacs on Thursday. This helped the film to mint 80 lacs on weekdays, which is the more than 40% of the total first-week collections of 1.9 crore, another rare phenomenon for Pakistani movie.
There are two key factors which played their role in the decent first-week performance of an arty film like ‘Cake’.
First of all, the footfall of Bollywood film Bhaagi 2 helped the Pakistani counterpart to get the better than expected response on the opening weekend. The multiplexes brimmed with Baaghi fans, which opened to whopping 2 crore on Friday and collected more than 8 crore in the first week. The over-zealous response to the Bollywood film ultimately played in the favor of ‘Cake’.
The second factor, which is the main reason behind commendable trend on the weekdays, is the positive word of mouth and rave reviews received by the film. The film is praised highly by all factions and is termed as one of the best offered by Pakistani cinema. This must have helped the film in registering a decent opening week and making it perform much better than similar releases of the past.
While ‘Cake’ performed decently in the domestic market, it performed equally well abroad as well. The film collected around 1.85 crore internationally, including UK, Australia, and UAE. The total worldwide first-week collections of the film tallied to impressive 3.75 crore.
Here is the breakdown of domestic week 1 collections of ‘Cake’.
Here is the breakdown of worldwide week 1 collections of ‘Cake’.
Stay tuned with Galaxy Lollywood for more sweet updates.
Talk of the K-town for last couple of days, Pakistan International Film Festival (PiFF) 2018, came to an end with an award ceremony on its fourth day, yesterday. Here is your summary of events from day three and four of the landmark event.
‘Films for change: Socially motivated content in South Asian Film,’ was the topic of the first panel discussion on day three, and in that panel were big names like, Vishal Bhardwaj, Momina Duraid, Jami, Subhash Kapoor, Hareem Farooq, and Nishtha Jain of Indian film, Gulabi Gang.
The Pakistan International Film Festival (PIFF) 2018, finale is well into its third day now and has got Karachi under its spell these days, the relevant circles, at least. Like the previous updates on its daily activities, here is your daily dose of update, this from the second day of the event, which was yesterday.
On the first day of the on-going Pakistan International Film Festival (PIFF) 2018, Bollywood met Lollywood and discussed the prospects of collaborations, entertainment being the prime victim of political unrest, and the Indian love for Pakistan. This, along with the special screening of, now released, Pakistani film Cake, and one other panel discussion occupied the Day One schedule of the event.
