The eagerly anticipated movie ‘Lahore Se Aagey’ released in cinemas all over Pakistan this Friday and given the two day numbers it would not be wrong to say that the film has opened with a bang! It is worth mentioning that this is the first major release after the ban on Indian films was imposed in September, thus ending the dry spell for Pakistani cinemas.
The road comedy film is a sequel/spin-off of last years sleeper hit ‘Karachi Se Lahore’ which launched the sensation that is Yasir Hussain and brought Wajahat Rauf to the forefront as a promising director. Expectations from the second film were obviously high given the director-actor combo, star cast (addition of Saba Qamar), great music, and strong promotions.
And the film has surely lived up to the expectations for as per ARY Films, official distributors of the film, the movie has raked in 1.2 crore on its first day and 1.35 crore on its second day taking the two day total to 2.55 crore
Although the reviews are mixed but it is expected that the film will grow even more today at the box office and the weekend will be almost 4 crore.
The eagerly anticipated movie ‘Lahore Se Aagey’ released in cinemas all over Pakistan this Friday and given the first day numbers it would not be wrong to say that the film has opened with a bang! It is worth mentioning that this is the first major release after the ban on Indian films was imposed in September, thus ending the dry spell for Pakistani cinemas.
The road comedy film is a sequel/spin-off of last years sleeper hit ‘Karachi Se Lahore’ which launched the sensation that is Yasir Hussain and brought Wajahat Rauf to the forefront as a promising director. Expectations from the second film were obviously high given the director-actor combo, star cast (addition of Saba Qamar), great music, and strong promotions.
And the film has surely lived up to the expectations for as per ARY Films, official distributors of the film, the movie has raked in 1.2 crore on its first day which is a great first day number. Although the reviews are mixed but it is expected that the film will grow today at the box office.
The sequel ‘Lahore Se Aagey’ is releasing this Friday (and we have seen the film, not revealing about it yet :p ) and we got a chance to sit and talk with the lead pair of the film – gorgeous Saba Qamar and witty Yasir Hussain.
Here is what we talked with the ‘Lahore Se Aagey’ duo.
GL: If given a chance would you trade your profession for something else?
Yasir: Saba should not, she is a great actress.
Saba: Helping people like in an orphanage, social work and all.
Yasir: I wanted to be a doctor. In fact I will be a doctor if I get a chance and will take it as my next profession.
GL: Name one actor or actress you would really like to work with?
Yasir: Other than Saba I would love to work with Sanam Baloch.
Saba: I have almost worked with everyone except Bilal Ashraf.
GL: Do you think actors are a narcissistic breed?
Yasir: Yes, well every other person is like that toh actors toh honge hi na.
Saba: Yes, we are like that as its human nature. There are many such people in the industry, naam nahi ley saktey kiun key laraiyan hojayin gi, but there are around 90 percent of them.
Iman Ali with “Lahore Se Aagey” team.
GL: Is it difficult for newcomers to make it in the film industry without connections?
Yasir: It is.
Saba: No No No.
Yasir: It took me 11 years to be there.
Saba: We don’t have professional institutes or proper channels to get started. Otherwise, it is not as such a difficult job here. I or Yasir, for example, put our best and we finally reached where we are now despite the fact that it took a lot of time.
Yasir: It took me eleven years to be here. Its one example I can give, whereas, I know many actors who had good connections and they became popular in 3 to 4 years. They did TV shows and even films in such a short time span because they had good connections. On the other side, I started with the theater, even there I used to do minor or muted roles in the start. So, yeah connections matter in the media as they do in any other field.
GL: Who in this industry is someone you get along with so well that if needing something you would call them at 4 a.m?
Yasir: Saba Qamar and Abdullah Faratullah.
Saba: Aamina Sheikh and Juggan Kazim.
GL: What is the craziest thing a fan has done for you?
While Bollywood may be a no-show in Pakistan, our local film-makers surely have you covered as far as entertainment goes. No, we are not exaggerating and once you go through this article you will agree that November is going to be quite a filmy month where 4 Pakistani film of completely different genres will be releasing. So without much wait here is the list.
Jeewan Hathi Release Date: 4 November Starring: Hina Dilpazeer, Samiya Mumtaz, Naseerudin Shah and others
Written by : Fasih Bari Khan
Directed by : Meenu Gaur and Farjad Nabi
Directors Previous work : Zinda Bhaag
Whats it about?
A 60 minute dark-comedy film about the Pakistani media which highlights all the underbelly corruption and malpractices that take place. It will do this via exploring the extent a media person goes to get the highest ratings for their content. The duo of Fasih Bari Khan and Hina Dilpazeer is something to look out for, add to that Samiya Mumtaz and Naseerudin Shah in the cast and the direction of Farjad- Meenu makes this one a treat. Still confused? Check out the trailer.
Lahore Se Aagey
Release Date: 11 November Starring: Yasir Hussain, Saba Qamar, Atiqa Odho, Abdullah Farhatullah and others
Written by : Yasir Hussain
Directed by : Wajahat Rauf
Directors Previous work : Karachi Se Lahore
Whats it about?
A sequel/spin-off of the much loved ‘Karachi Se Lahore’ this one tells the story of Moti (Yasir Hussain) and rockstar Tara ( Saba Qamar) who are on a road trip to somewhere ‘Lahore Se Aagey’. If the trailer is anything to go by this comic road trip which starts from Lahore and goes on capturing all the enchanting northern areas of Pakistan which will surely be a treat for the eyes! The movie has amazing sound tracks and we finally get to see Saba Qamar dancing , need we say more? Still confused? Check out the trailer.
Lahore Se Aagey – Official TrailerSo the official trailer of #LahoreSeAagey is out you guys. The film stars Yasir Hussain and Saba Qamar in leading roles and is directed by Wajahat Rauf. The film is the sequel to the 2015 release Karachi Se Lahore.
Release Date: 18 November Starring: Sanam Saeed,Sajid Hasan, Nayyar Ejaz and others
Written by : Mahmood Jamal
Directed by : Ahmed Jamal
Whats its about?
This thriller film is based on William Shakespeare’s play Measure for Measure and the plot revolves around honesty, unity, morality, justice and the dichotomy between corruption and purity. This film will surely be a ground breaker as it will be the first translated version of Shakespeare’s play on a big screen. We cant wait to see this one. Still confused? Check out the trailer.
Rahm – Official TrailerIts raining trailers for sure!
Here is the trailer of up-coming film ‘Rahm’ which stars Sanam Saeed, Rohail Pirzada, Sajid Hassan, Nayar Ejaz among others.
What do you guys think?
Release Date: 25 November
Starring: Adeel Hussain, Sanam Saeed,Hareem Farooq,Ali Kazmi,Tooba Siddiqui, Shaz Khan and others
Written by : Bilal SamiMehreen Jabbar
Directed by : Mehreen Jabbar
Directors Previous work : Ramchand Pakistani
Whats its about?
Full of complicated relationships, unlikely romances this movie is all about the journey of love and friendship and finding ones way in life. We like the ensemble cast and under Mehreen Jabbar’s direction the final product ought to be good. Still confused? Check out the trailer.
Dobara Phir Se – Theatrical Trailer [2016]And here is the theatrical trailer of Dobara Phir Se which stars Hareem Farooq, Adeel Husain, Sanam Saeed , Tooba Siddiqui, Ali Kazmi, Atiqa Odho and Shaz Khan. The film is directed by Mehreen Jabbar and releases this August.
It is definitely ‘the red carpet look’ of the season. Yes, the ‘topknots!’ We have all known about and loved the ‘man bun’ on guys, but topknot is a far superior hairstyle seen for the rocking female celebrities this year. Spotted all over the globe, the Pakistani actresses have also started flaunting their knots ever so confidently.
The impending release of ‘Ae Dil Hai Mushkil’ is probably the hottest topic of discussion these days and the internet is going berserk debating the release of this eagerly anticipated film. The fate of the movie is uncertain as bodies on both sides of the border are divided when it comes to its release. While their is support on side, the opposition is strong too and this makes the situation far from ideal. Moreover even the fans have different opinions as some are going the patriotic way while others believe that art has no boundaries.
It all started with the attack on an army camp in the Indian-held Kashmir city of Uri, which killed 19 Army personnel. Then came the infamous ‘surgical strike’ and as a result the relation between Pakistan and India became sour.The Indian Motion Pictures Producers’ Association (IMPPA), in a rather dim move, officially banned Pakistani artists and technicians from working in India and in a jingoistic response the Pakistani exhibitors decided to suspend screening of Indian films indefinitely and thus a deadlock.
Interestingly, there was no major Bollywood release for the past few weeks so not much was lost due to this indefinite suspension but things are heating up as this Friday two huge Bollywood films ‘Ae Dil Hai Mushkil’ and ‘Shivay’ are up for release.
The reason why ‘Ae Dil Hai Mushkil’ is hogging all the spotlight is courtesy the presence of Pakistani actors Fawad Khan and Imran Abbas in the film. Furthermore, even the characters that Fawad and some of the other cast members were to play were going to be Pakistani! However we now hear that due to the situation, alterations have been made and any reference to Pakistan has been avoided. But that does not mean that Fawad has been eliminated from the film as their were rumors that Fawad would be replaced by Saif Ali Khan ,but well they were just rumors.
Coming back to the main issue, what is happening with its release? Well while India may have green-lit the release, despite quite a few hurdles, the picture in Pakistan is different. We talked to the distributors and it seems like the film will not be releasing in Pakistan given the situation. So looks like all us Fawad Khan fans will miss the opportunity of seeing our star on the silver screen.
What do you think of this ban? Do you think that the film should release in Pakistan considering it stars one of our own? What is your take on the entire issue. Let us know in the comments section.
Update: The film name has been recently changed from ‘100 Crore’ to ‘Jackpot’. We updated it in the article.
With Bollywood films out of the picture (at least for the time being) it seems like Pakistani filmmakers are all geared up to make the most out of this restriction. Every other day brings with itself news of a new Pakistani film launching and honestly its a really exciting time for Pakistani Cinema. One such film which was recently launched is Shoaib Khan’s directorial debut ‘Jackpot’ and in this post we will give you an exclusive preview of what to expect from this fun filled film.
Talking to Galaxy Lollywood, the director of the film revealed some details and gave us an idea of what to expect from the film. “Jackpot is a comedy thriller and has a bunch of characters, interlinked to each other, who are all running after this lottery ticket. The entire film is one fun-filled ride which takes the characters places as they try to get their hands on the ticket. The film is full of comedy and masala which will be loved by the audiences”, says Shoaib Khan.
Moving on to the cast, the director mentioned how he has carefully chosen all the actors as he believes they will do justice to the characters. While its a film debut for the main actors, since Noor Hassan and Sanam Chaudhry are already popular faces from the television industry it will be exciting to see how they perform in their debut film. Moreover debutantes Inayat Khan and Reyhana Malhotra also seem promising from whatever little we have seen of them on the social media. Add to that a supporting cast which includes the sizzling Sana Fakhar, veterans Jawed Sheikh, Ismail Tara and lots of surprise appearances by renowned actors and you have a winner.
We all know how music is a rather crucial part of films these days so we were curious to know more about the music. Shoaib told us that the music of ‘100 Crore’ is done by Naveed Nashad and the album has five tracks in total of which two are romantic songs and three will be fun peppy dance numbers. The songs have been sung by Amanat Ali, Beena Khan, Asim Azhar and Ashfan Fawad so we can expect some melodious numbers.
The film was launched a few weeks back and the cast just returned to Pakistan after shooting its first spell in Phuket, Thailand. The second spell will be shot in Lahore while the film releases in March 2017. Here’s wishing the makers all the very best for their film.
Here are some behind the scenes photos from the film ‘Jackpot’.
So after the LUX Style Awards, HUM Awards and ARY Film Awards we have another set of awards in town and they promise to give us a night full of glamour which will celebrate the best in film, fashion, television,music and sports. We are talking about the upcoming HUM Style Awards which are all set to take place later this month in Karachi. The nominations for the awards are out and honestly they have us a bit confused.
The first question we have is about the exact criteria of the awards. As pointed out in this piece by Dawn Images‘Are they being doled out to celebs that dress the best on-screen (in which case the credit really goes to the film’s stylist, costume designers, director and other people with creative input) or off-screen, where the celebrities’ own preferences are likely to come into play.’
Secondly, coming to the film awards we wonder what time frame was considered when choosing the nominations. Generally awards consider films from January 1st to December 31st so we thought the awards would focus on year 2015 and include actors whose films released last year. However the presence of Shehryar Munawar, Iman Ali and other actors who had films release in year 2016 make us wonder what was the cut off date? For if films from 2016 were included then the cast of Janaan should definitely have been there as it was probably the most stylish cast to have graced the silver screen in recent times. Also we have serious issues with some names as they may be great actors but stylish they are definitely not!
Also some nominations from the other categories have quite a few snubs and names which would make one go WTF! But lets not get into it and leave it on the viewers to decide for themselves. Here is the complete list of nominations
It seems like Pakistani filmmakers are taking full advantage of the Indian films being banned in Pakistan. It was last week when the news came trickling along about Shoaib Mansoor’s new venture with Mahira Khan and now Ahsan Rahim, the famous TVC director and man behind those funny Ufone ads and more, has announced his debut film with the Pakistani heart-throb Ali Zafar.
Disclaimer: 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.
This Eid-ul-Azha was rather filmy as we had not one or two but three big budget local films hitting cinemas and fighting for the viewers attention. Among them we had Fahad Mustafa-Mehwish Hayat starer ‘Actor In Law’, Feroze Khan-Sajal Aly starrer ‘Zindagi Kitni Haseen Hay’ and lastly Armeena Rana Khan-Bilal Ashraf-Ali Rehman starer ‘Janaan’.
Both ‘Actor in Law’ and ‘Janaan’ had tremendous first extended week of 10 days, started on Tuesday with two Eid holidays. ‘Actor in Law’ led the race since get-go, whereas ‘Janaan’ kept on chasing it closely but the gap widened by the end of the week. However, Week 2 proved to be more successful for ‘Janaan’ as compacted to ‘Actor in Law’, thanks to the good word of mouth and buzz in the media.
In this business, ‘Zindagi Kitni Haseen Hai’ could not create much magic on the box office and after racking around 5 crore in the first week the film saw great dip in its collections and turned out to be a below average movie on the box office. It could not stand the other two giants mainly because of poor promotions, receiving mixed to negative reviews by the critics and having young cast with less star power.
In the wake of Pakistan-India conflicts and ban of Pakistani dramas and artists in India, the cinema owners of Pakistan decided to put an ad-hoc ban on the Indian films which helped these releases little bit in last two weeks. Perhaps, these movies have slowed down to the great extent by the end of Week 4 and are expected to complete their life-time journey soon.
Here is the break down of 4 Week collections of three Eid-al-Azha releases.
*We will update Week 4 figures of AIL and Janaan with post-Ashura holidays numbers soon.
Actor in Law
‘Actor in Law’, which recently became the highest grosser of 2016, is soon to become the all time second highest grossing film of Pakistan, leaving behind ‘Waar’. We are keeping an eye on this historic moment.
Week 1 (13 Sep – 22 Sep) – 14.0 crore
Week 2 (23 Sep – 29 Sep) – 4.0 crore
Week 3 (30 Sep – 06 Oct) – 3.0 crore
Week 4 (07 Oct – 13 Oct) – 1.0 crore*
TOTAL – 22.1 crore
Janaan
‘Janaan’ has recently surpassed the collections of ‘Ho Mann Jahaan’, another film by ARY Films, becoming the second highest grosser of 2016.
Week 1 (13 Sep – 22 Sep) – 9.3 crore
Week 2 (23 Sep – 29 Sep) – 4.8 crore
Week 3 (30 Sep – 06 Oct) – 1.5 crore
Week 4 (07 Oct – 13 Oct) – 1.0 crore*
TOTAL – 16.6 crore
Zindagi Kitni Haseen Hai
The estimated figure below is based on two weeks collections only. We are trying to get the confirmed collections for Week 3 and 4 and will update this space as we learn about them.
Week 1 (13 Sep – 22 Sep) – 4.82 crore
Week 2 (23 Sep – 29 Sep) – 0.93 crore
Week 3 & 4 – unknown yet
TOTAL – 6.0 crore (estimated)
Other Pakistani movies running in cinemas
On the other side ‘Maalik’, which was re-released after the Supreme Court of Pakistan uplifted the ban imposed by the Federal Government on it, is running successfully in the cinemas and it has added more than 2 crore in its collections since then. Its total collections exceeds the mark of 6 crore now.
Also, cinemas have been showing best of Pakistani movies of 2015 and 2016, including ‘Bin Roye’, ‘Bachanna’, ‘Jawani Phir Nahi Ani’ and ‘Manto’ to name few, since last weekend, giving them good chances to boost their life-time collections. It will be interesting to see if they can bring public to the cinemas as the ban on Indian films continue.
