It is heartening to see the slowly flourishing Pakistani film industry with new releases churning out every year....
premiere
It is heartening to see the slowly flourishing Pakistani film industry with new releases churning out every year. The crowd of cinemagoers keeps on getting bigger as the industry focuses on bringing quality content including fresh young talent and great cinematography. While there are some hits and misses, the entertainment industry is persevering and improving with time.
Recently, the movie ‘Laal Kabootar’ premiered at local cinemas in Karachi and Lahore with a star-studded event. In attendance were the cast and crew of the movie, socialites, media personalities and celebrities like Sanam Saeed, Zoe Vicaji, Hareem Farooq, Osman Khalid Butt, Ali Safina, Hira Tareen, Ali Rehman Khan, Bilal Ashraf, Sheheryar Munawar, Junaid Khan, Syra Shahroz, Mikaal Zulfiqar and Zhalay Sarhadi to name a few in Karachi. Whereas Mira Sethi, Omair Rana, Jimmy Khan, Abdullah Haris, Jibran Nasir, Rachel Viccaji, Zoya Nasir, Asim Raza, Sheheryar Munawar, Adeel Hussain, Adnan Malik, Humayun Saeed, Wajahat Rauf among others were spotted at the Lahore premiere.
Set in Karachi, the plot of the movie revolves around two characters Aliya (Mansha Pasha), widow of a slain journalist looking for his murderer, and a hustling cab driver Adeel (Ahmed Ali Akbar), who dreams of finding a way out of the country. The two characters cross paths through unfortunate turn of events. After Aliya finds the police apathetic to her case, Adeel offers to help find the murderer in exchange for enough money to flee to Dubai.
The film shows Karachi in its true essence, raw, gritty, glamorous but always lively. While the plot takes its time to develop throughout the film, the story seems quite rushed towards the end. The movie also stars Rashid Farooqui, Saleem Meraj, Ali Kazmi, Shamim Hilali, Akbar Islam, Syed Arsalan, Saad Fareedi, Hammad Siddiq, Ishtiaq Omar, Meesum Naqvi, Faiza Gillani, Mohammed Ahmed and Kaleem Ghour. ‘Laal Kabootar’ is a directorial debut for Kamal Khan, an LSA award winning music director, with Harvard graduates Hania Chima and Kamil Chima as the executive producers. Here is hoping that we get to see more quality content being produced by our very own industry.
— Adeela Akmal
