By Sher Khan on Express Tribune:
Before shooting for Waar began, or Hamyun Saeed had started work on Mein Hoon Shahid Afridi and Hamza Ali Abbasi was simply a theatre-talent trying to make it as an independent film director, Shamoon Abbasi had started working on Gidh; his latest film which is set to begin shooting in February.
Shamoon Abbasi has never been one to take a back seat, or take a break. Any time he completes a project, he is already looking
Not even when we, in Pakistan, have fully gotten over the blast Waar has hit the film industry with, the sequel to the film, Waar 2, has already started making headlines. Already recorded as Pakistan’s highest grossing movie of all time, Waar is still running in local cinemas with people still trying to get over the “masterpiece” Pakistan film industry has created.
Carrying the name of Mr. Riaz Shahid; one of the most celebrated filmmakers of industry’s heydays, Riaz Shahid films, the film banner now being run by his superstar son, Shaan Shahid, have allied with the media giant ARY Netwrok’s film distribution arm, ARY Films to together bear the torch in Pakistan Film Industry’s quest for its revived future.
An MoU was signed between ARY Films and Riaz Shahid Films on 23rd November 2013, subjecting a joint production venture between two banners aimed at wheeling the revival process of Pakistan film industry.
As per the MoU, Riaz Shahid Films will produce four up-standard, quality films every year from the next year making sure that there is always enough local content for cinemas to exhibit, whereas ARY Films will make sure that the films receive the grandest reception in the country possible.
To solidify the deal, two films were announced at the event, Arth 2 and Mission-5, along with a subsequent announcement that the former’s launch event will be held next month where Indian film director Mahesh Bhatt will also be present.
The press release after the event mentioned that Arth 2, which is actually the remake of famous Mahesh Butt film, Arth, will have Shaan Shahid and Humaima Malick in the lead roles, whereas a new face Uzma Hassan along with actor Ali Khan will also play an integral part in the film. The story and dialogues will be written by Pervez Kaleem, while Shaan along with acting and directing the movie will also write its screenplay. Sahir Ali Baggar has been roped in for the Music, while Waar’s DOP, Luke Rocheleau will be the DOP here too.
The second announced film, Mission-5, an action thriller, is also another exciting addition to the list of upcoming local releases with its story being done by Shaan and Waar’s Hassan Waqas Rana, while as per the press release it will be shot on Pak-Afghan border with a foreign director named Tom Dilmer directing it. More on the film will be unfolded in coming months.
Shaan on occasion said, “We are delighted to have one of the biggest media groups of Pakistan as our partner. This is not just a collaboration but rather a marriage of two ideologies combined together and it will mark a new era for Pakistani Film Industry. My special thanks to ARY Film for their vision; their dedication and patriotism is the reason for the culmination of this partnership. I hope this collaboration will further raise the standard of Pakistani Cinema industry and bring it to international front, creating a soft image of Pakistan in the process.”
Stating his views on the collaboration, Mr. Jarjees Seja, ARY Digital Network’s Chief Executive Officer, said, It is pertinent for the main players in the market to join hands to be able to make and market better films. Our experience with our latest presentations like ‘Waar’, ‘Zinda Bhaag’, and ‘Main Hoon Shahid Afridi’ tells us that there is a great hunger for Pakistani Cinema entertainment. The market is ready to reward and support all good efforts. This is precisely why we are joining forces with Riaz Shahid Films and we intend to jointly produce and market four films each year from now on. At ARY Films, we are committed to not only provide quality entertainment through our movies but also give a business model to different advertisers and sponsors so they can use this powerful medium to integrate their brand/products and become a part of revival of Pakistani cinema by investing in the movies.”
The deed also intends to organise an international film festival in Pakistan next year where content from China, Iran, Italy, Spain, Srilanka and Saudi Arabia along with local productions will be screened, helping the local filmmakers to get a diversed international perspective on filmmaking and entertainment.
It must also be noted that ARY Films earlier this year signed another MoU with Mandviwalla entertainment resulting in creation of, The Platform; a venture helping local films, specially the small productions in getting them much-needed cinema release across the country.
Efforts such as these are the need of the time now, and with a little more of such efforts, this revival process will get fueled up for real as intended by this joint venture.
Waar has been on a record breaking spree ever since it hit cinemas. First “All records were shattered as Waar collected 1.8 crore on the first day.”
Then “Waar packed a punch and collected 13 crore (gross) in its first week.” Now it has been 19 days since Waar released and it has raked in 25 crore ( gross) and 16.6 crore (net). If this is not huge then I dont know what is.
Here is the day wise breakup. Also check out my post ” 8 Reasons you should get yourself a Waar ticket right away. ( Spoiler free!!!)“ and read Ayan Mirza’s review of the film ” Waar (Review): The highly stylised film has its own glitches but is a simple must watch says Aayan Mirza.
1st day ( Wednesday) : 1.15 cr (net)
2nd day (Thursday): 1.51 cr(net)
3rd day (Friday): 1.46 cr (net)
4th day ( Saturday): 1.53 cr (net)
5th day ( Sunday): 1.36 cr (net)
6th day (Monday): 0.66cr (net)
7th day(Tuesday): 0.63cr (net)
8th day( Wednesday): 0.56 cr (net)
9th day(Thursday): 0.59cr (net)
1st Week= 9.45 crore (net)
10th day (Friday): 0.71 cr (net)
11th day ( Saturday): 1.11 cr (net)
12th day (Sunday): 1.08 cr (net)
13th day (Monday): 0.55cr (net)
14th day(Tuesday): 0.49cr (net)
15th day( Wednesday: 0.50 cr (net)
16th day(Thursday): 0.47cr(net)
2nd week = 4.91 crore (net)
Total (Week 1+2)= 14.36 crore(net)
17th day (Friday): 0.44cr (net)
18th day ( Saturday): 0.91 cr (net)
19th day (Sunday): 0.85cr(net) * approximately
Total : 19 Days 16.6 crore* approximately
The journey of a director going from advertisements and music videos to the longer and more demanding medium of film, is not an easy one. A feature film takes much more time. It requires guts. You need months of planning and above all, a considerable amount of money to get a project completed.
This is probably why Jami Mahmood is uncertain today. Despite having the rough cut of his film, titled Moor (Pashto for mother), Jami is torn between producing quality content as well as making a film that will rake in money at the box office.
Read Ayan Mirza’s review of the film Waar here
And also check out this piece where I tell you 8 reasons why you should get yourself a Waar ticket right now.
It has been seven days since Waar hit the cinemas but the excitement is just not dying. Every day there is something new coming up with respect to this film and there is a constant flurry of action on social media. Some are loving it, some are hating it but everyone is acknowledging its presence. Something that still surprises me is how Waar is appealing to both the masses and the multiplex audiences given the fact that the film is in English amongst other factors. Given this unique feat of Waar, it should not come as a surprise that the film had a dream first week run at the box office.
Waar came with a bang when it collected 1.8 crore(gross) on the first day and broke quite some records. Then the second day showed a jump as the collections were 2.23 crore (gross) on its second day. The first week is now over and the film has closed in with an impressive 13.274 crore(gross). Here is the daywise breakup.
1st day( Wednesday): 1.76 cr (gross) 1.15 cr (net)
2nd day(Thursday): 2.23 cr( gross) 1.51 cr(net)
3rd day (Friday): 2.168cr (gross) 1.46 cr (net)
4th day ( Saturday): 2.24cr (gross) 1.53 cr (net)
5th day ( Sunday): 1.976cr ( gross) 1.35 cr (net)
6th day (Monday): 1.45cr*(gross) 0.95cr*(net)
7th day(Tuesday): 1.45cr*(gross) 0.95cr*(net)
Total : 7 Days 13.274 (gross) 9.0 cr (net)
The film has already crossed the collections of many Bollywood biggies including Chennai Express and Don 2 among others. Now the next few weeks will only add more to this huge collection and it should not be surprising if Waar soon emerges as the highest grossing Pakistani film crossing Bol’s collection of 12 crore(net) 19 crore(gross).
Team Galaxy Lollywood would like to congratulate Team Waar on this success and wish them all the luck for the future of this film.
Movie Name: Waar
Release Date: 16 October 2013
Director: Bilal Lashari
Review by: Muhammad Aayan Mirza
Waar was special for all of us, special not only because of the movie’s humungous budget and a cloud of unbelievable early dreams like a possible foreign distribution deal with Warner Brothers, or the news of filmmakers considering the French actress Sarah Desage for a cameo (I personally wanted this one to be true), or the rumour that the then Interior Minister Rehman Malik would play his real life role in the movie. These were all exciting bits of a stage where maturity hadn’t yet hit the project, and all these considerations were the talk of the town, but then they died eventually. But all of this didn’t really mean much to us, what meant more to us was a slick, commercial Pakistani action-thriller coming out that really looked one of its own kind. From what we had seen in the highly enticing trailer, it really was incomparable to anything that had come out of Pakistan film industry ever, ever I repeat.
You don’t want to miss all this:- ( In no particular order)
1. This dance sequence between Shamoon Abbasi and Meesha Shafi.
I mean can’t you feel all the intensity and the passion.
2. This fight sequence between Shaan and Shamoon Abassi is one of the highlights of the film.
Specially when Shaan goes all Kung Fu
3. Sorry but Kamran Lashari’s accent has to be on the list. I mean the film was in Engish and everyone stuck to their Pakistani accents (except for Ayesha of course) but Mr Lashari here had an accent you just have to experience.
4. This motivational speech by Hamza Abbasi and the scene that follows is amongst the best scenes in the film. Gives you goosebumps.
Plus this scene brought back some Game of Thrones memories back too. Close enough?
5. The Urdu subtitles are just too good. Did you know that “full of shit ” means ” tum andar say khokhlay ho”? Some translations are just too good.
6. The killer cinematography, the camera work. The film is a visual treat. Look at all these stills from the movie.
7. Personally I am not really a fan of violence, explosions and gore but this film is full of it and the reason it’s on this list is that the quality of all these scenes is worth noting. I mean Pakistan has never really been know for its graphics and all. But Waar is sure to change that!
8. All in all this film is full of talented people. From the actors to the incredible director Bilal Lashari (who also makes a blink and you’ll miss apperance). We should all go see this film and support Pakistani cinema!
Note: There are different first day figures floating around but the one we at Galaxy Lollywood have shared with you is the actual one we got from different sources.
The highly anticipated or the “most anticipated movie in the history of Pakistan” as the trailer puts it released yesterday too packed houses. From the early morning shows to the late night shows( which ended at 4am ) all were very well received. Special mention of the late night show I went to which had people filled up to the very first row, which let me add is a rare sight these days.
Usually in Pakistan a film either does well at the multiplexes or does well at the single screen cinemas but Waar has clearly broken this myth by doing thunderous business at both the single screen and the multiplexes. The official first day collections stand at 1.8 crore and it would not be wrong to assume that the first week will close somewhere on the lines of 10 crore as this film will have an extended weekend run at the box office all thanks to the wednesday release.
The film has broken every record in Pakistan and it would not be surprising that it soon crosses Bol’s 12 crore collection and becomes the highest grosser for Pakistani cinema. Looks like Pakistani cinema is coming back in al its glory.
Waar has tested our patience a lot, multiple times. One Eid to another, we could just see the rumours of the film getting mistakenly released die every time pretty much since last year. It sure was hard on nerves, frustrating indeed.
But why not bury the hatchet and move on, because that’s what the distributors of Waar expect us to do, by finally locking and announcing the release date for the film, and the cherry on the top is that the date isn’t that far either, just within a couple of days, some
