The box office loves ‘four-quadrant’ movies — those that interest a range of audience demographics: men and women, under and above 25.
n InstepREVIEW
There is no taking away from Ho Mann Jahaan’s fresh and youthful appeal; if only there were more meat on its plot
The box office loves ‘four-quadrant’ movies — those that interest a range of audience demographics: men and women, under and above 25. A coming-of-age story, packaged with a great-looking cast of characters, a fair dose of glamour, and chartbusting tracks that include an extended but well-choreographed wedding number, is, then, pre-qualified to do well at the ticket windows. Ad filmmaker and music video director Asim Raza’s cinematic debut Ho Mann Jahaan looked like one such feel-good, family affair, right from the day its first teaser came out.
But while you cannot question its appeal, especially among the Pakistani youth, the film falls short on a number of accounts, which is a worrying fact indeed.
To begin with, the plot is not gripping enough and you are starved for that one big hook, that climactic high point which would never happen. The pace of the film is inconsistent — very slow at places. The intermission is, well, just a loo break; it doesn’t give you a lot to anticipate. The ending, too, follows no proper resolution of a conflict, perhaps because there’s no real conflict in the first place.
Arhaan (Shehryar Munawwar), Maneeza aka “Muni” (Mahira Khan) and Nadir (Adeel Hussain) are quite a trio in what is described as “the best business college” around. They share a passion for music and also famously perform at university events. (That their pop band is never named might be forgivable at this point.) Maneeza and Nadir are romantically inclined, though they have never really considered it, not until the college is over. Muni accepts his proposal in the first given instance and the two are set for marriage despite Nadir’s mother (Bushra Ansari) expressing a conventional concern about her bahu-to-be pursuing a career in music.
Meanwhile, Nadir has given up on the band to join the family business, on the insistence of his parents who don’t see music as a wise career choice. Likewise for Arhaan, the lesser privileged of the three friends, albeit for different reasons — he must seek job security, his middle-class father (played by Shehryar’s real-life daddy Munawwar Siddiqui) tells him.
Muni has had better luck with her artist mother (Nimra Bucha). Her father “Max” (Jamal Shah), it is revealed, was himself a singer but he left music because “moseeqi, painting mana hain mazhab mein!”
So far so good.
The film strikes an important note that every youngster entering the practical world can relate to: should you follow your heart in choosing a career path? Sadly, this core issue is dealt with rather too simplistically. The message gets diluted in a great deal of fluff — banal dialogues, a dozen star cameos, an extra love angle between Arhaan and an elderly and lonely Sabina (Sonya Jehan) thrown in, all culminating in a fairytale conclusion.
One expected more from Asim Raza’s first feature film. Even his telefilm Behudd (2014) was far grittier.
Raza’s narrative lacks depth and intensity. Besides, several subplots that are introduced are left midstream. For instance, it is not successfully established as to why Maneeza’s parents went separate ways. At one point in the film, Nadir encounters Arhaan, asking him to let Muni out of the band, and the two come to blows even before you’ve known it. The buildup to their fight is conveniently missed and the whole sequence appears as funny as the way it has been choreographed. Action, it seems, isn’t Raza’s strong point.
The setting of classroom also has a lot of potential for humour, which is not fully tapped.
Where Raza scores, however, is in the music department, the montages, and certain long-distance and aerial shots (he is perhaps the only big-screen director in the country so far to have used drone camera!). Ho Mann Jahaan boasts a superlative OST featuring a stellar lineup — Atif Aslam, Zeb Bangash, Asrar, Mai Dhai Band, Zoheb Hasan and Tina Sani. The songs are a delight to watch on screen as much as they are pleasing on the ears. ‘Shakar Wandawaan’ is a rage already. The reprisal of Nazia-Zoheb’s cult ‘Dosti’ is pure joy. Every time the movie dips, the songs lift it up.
Of course, the contribution of the actors cannot be overlooked. As much as Ho Mann Jahaan leverages Mahira’s star power, the film actually permits more shades to Shehryar’s Arhaan than to anyone else. (This may be because Shehryar is the co-producer of the film!). When the film opens, he comes across as a bit of a brat, the prankster in the college. But soon you meet the sensitive soul in him, the silent sufferer who is duty-bound by friendship not to express his feelings for Maneeza. You see him trying to hold back tears, immersing himself in music, binge-smoking and ruminating on life in the backstreets of the city, on lonely nights. And, Siddiqui junior delivers every time. He has clearly worked on his diction (that is, if you compare it with his earlier performances on TV).
Adeel Hussain brings his cool, composed Nadir to life like a complete pro. And Mahira Khan pulls off the various avatars of Maneeza — the bubbly girl-next-door, the swaying, swinging pop artist, the ravishing bride who also shakes some sexy leg to the film’s best songs — with supreme confidence, and predictably so.
From among the supporting cast, Sonya Jehan leaves some impact. Jamal Shah, Nimra Bucha, Munawwar Siddiqui and Arshad Mehmood also acquit themselves fairly well. Unfortunately, Bushra Ansari is a letdown. The very versatile, seasoned actor seems to have it got it wrong this time around: She tries hard to add a nuance or two to her one-dimensional character of a doting mother, and the effort shows.
And, then, there is the much-tomtommed ‘special’ appearance by Fawad Khan that turns out to be a huge bore. In comparison, model Mira Ansari (Bushra Ansari’s younger daughter) who enters the frame with Fawad and stays on for only a fraction of a minute, walks away with some credit.
Sangeeta’s cameo is sure to perk you up (though, the same can’t be said for the audiences in UAE, UK and the US who might not be familiar with this senior film actor-director). The lady looks radiant as a Punjabi aunty. Her heartwarming screen presence is best matched by singer-composer Zeb Bangash’s playful coquette.
You also spot a graceful Uzma Gillani staring down from a portrait from yesteryears (she gets a mention in the opening titles, too). Then there is Pyare Afzal Hamza Ali Abbasi as the grey-haired, reflective fakir that should shock the daylight out of his fans, and Syra Shehroze’s endearing rebound-girl act in the film’s final few moments.
Eventually, there is no taking away from the film’s fresh and youthful appeal, and especially its music that is already ruling the charts — all of which make it a crowd-pleasing fare. If only there was more meat to its plot and the characters were less sketchy!
With a movie this big, one review is not enough! Movie critic Khusro Mumtaz also reviews Ho Mann Jahaan in the Sunday edition of Instep. Look out for it tomorrow.
