While the rest of Karachi drenched itself in the joys of rain, celebrities joined in to support the team of upcoming film Actor In Law at its trailer launch, held at the Pearl Continental Hotel on Tuesday evening. The launch, which was attended by the likes of Humayun Saeed, Mahira Khan and director Jami, followed the usual rigmarole of press meet ups – red carpet poses, video interviews,
Fiza Ali Meerza (producer) and Nabeel Qureshi (director) of Actor in Lawn; the duo also brought us Na Maloom Afraad.
Director-producer duo Nabeel Qureshi and Fiza Ali Meerza gear up for yet another satirical take on society.
Karachi : While the rest of Karachi drenched itself in the joys of rain, celebrities joined in to support the team of upcoming film Actor In Law at its trailer launch, held at the Pearl Continental Hotel on Tuesday evening. The launch, which was attended by the likes of Humayun Saeed, Mahira Khan and director Jami, followed the usual rigmarole of press meet ups – red carpet poses, video interviews, lengthy introductions and the press’ mind-boggling questions. To be specific, it took about one and a half hour for the press to finally get a glimpse of what Actor In Law has in store for the audience – a grueling, testing wait for the many rozedaars in attendance and an even more frustrating one for those who wanted to make it home for iftar.
Before the unveiling of the trailer, producer Fiza Ali Meerza and director Nabeel Qureshi stressed on how they have tried to make the film with the right intentions and have put in immense hard work in offering a complete entertainer to the audience. Their efforts reflected in the trailer that was nothing short of a visual treat minus Mustafa’s exaggerated performance in some of the scenes. Simply put, a story about a lawyer who wants to be an actor and uses his profession as a platform to reiterate that, the film promises to be a laugh riot with dramatic twists and turns and of course a hint of romance. Like Na Maloom Afraad, the writers have significantly used real life references to depict the irony that is lost on our society. If Dubsmash videos weren’t enough of a reminder, Ayesha Sana’s iconic BTS moment has also found its way in the film but the best moment comes when you spot producer Fiza make an acting debut as the hooded supermodel Ayyan surrounded by hordes of security officials and overenthusiastic journalists.
Thankfully what seemed to be the case when the film’s first poster came out, Om Puri isn’t the only selling point of the film. Yes, the makers are likely to cash in on his presence, but from the looks of the trailer, there are a number of performances to watch out for – particularly that of Mehwish Hayat’s. The actress, who is constantly being lauded for her powerful, stereotype-defying role in Dillagi (though she was more than happy to see her on screen stalker in real life at the launch event), will be seen in another fierce character of a journalist, who hails from a minority background. Apart from all the leads, Alyy Khan too intrigues as a self-obsessed, sham of an anchor.
While the trailer got the stamp of approval from many in attendance, a handful of journalists seemed offended by the film’s opening dialogue that said, “Quaid-e-Azam bhi tou actor ban na chahte the!” Though the fact is written in history, as the director also mentioned, this unexpected scrutiny shed light on an ingrained societal mindset that acting isn’t a respectable job. So much so that it’s disgraceful to say that the founder of the nation once had a liking for it. It was ironic because we were there to celebrate cinema only. Clearly, as a society, we take offense to things rather quickly and this and a handful of other perplexing aspects of our cultural framework are what will be the focus points of Actor In Law’s narrative.
Perhaps, Mustafa’s comment was apt in this unnecessarily dragged and almost hypocritical debate on the one particular dialogue. “It is just entertainment and everybody should take it positively and support upcoming films. We all are ok watching Game of Thrones at home but when it comes to local films we get offended easily,” he said.
Actor In Law, which will see a veteran Bollywood actor cross borders to work in a Pakistani film for the second time only as compared to the myriad of times our actors have contributed to Bollywood, is scheduled to release on Eid ul Azha, this September.
caption
Fiza Ali Meerza (producer) and Nabeel Qureshi (director) of Actor in Lawn; the duo also brought us Na Maloom Afraad.
