With a cast that includes Fawad Khan and Mahira Khan, the upcoming Maula Jatt film by Bilal Lashari remains an eagerly-awaited cinematic prospect.
With a cast that includes Fawad Khan and Mahira Khan, the upcoming Maula Jatt film by Bilal Lashari remains an eagerly-awaited cinematic prospect. However, the film which also stars Hamza Ali Abbasi and Humaima Malik, recently became the subject of a controversy of sorts. Earlier this month, producer of the original Maula Jatt, Sarwar Bhatti claimed that Lashari didn’t seek approval beforehand and thus doesn’t own the right to use the name, characters and music of the previous film. To that end, he issued a notice to the entire team including the film’s all-star cast.
Responding to this story, executive producer of the upcoming Maula Jatt film, Ammara Hikmat, has cleared the air and denied all such claims. “The malicious claims made by Sarwar Bhatti are false and frivolous,” she told PMR. “Instead of commenting on this issue in media, we will take appropriate legal action in this respect.”
It is entirely possible that it’s Lashari and Hikmat who are in the right. Just last month it was announced that the writer of the 1979 Maula Jatt, Nasir Adeeb has officially handed over the rights of his iconic characters – Maula Jatt and Noori Natt (among others) – to Bilal Lashari and Ammara Hikmat. Also, Lashari took to social media earlier this year to announce that the upcoming project is neither a “sequel” nor a “remake”. He insisted that the stories surrounding the film are false while the official title will be announced soon.
Whether the upcoming Maula Jatt is a remake or reinterpretation of iconic characters will only be determined when the film releases but given the curiosity that surrounds this film, it looks set to become a box office success.
