It has been very busy Eid days at Pakistani cinemas, with the spotlight on two of the ‘Home-made’ pictures, and surely long awaited. After Waar release and immense success of the movie not only in Pakistan but worldwide, Pakistani producers gained the confident to release more, and revival of the cinema seemed inevitable. With Shaan’s another action-thriller, ‘Operation 021’ and Javed Sheikh & Fahad Mustafa’s ‘Na Maloom Afraad’, the battle for the first place was for sure happening at the big screens.
Many were expecting Operation 021 to be a new cover to the same book as Waar. But the movie was merely a disappointment for the viewers. All hyped, highly marketed with very strong star lineup which included the ageless superstar Shaan and Amina Haq, Choppy editing and several tonal shifts leave evidence of the change in directors from Summer Nicks to Jami. Dialogue was stilted, awkward and distracted from the movie. The one liners seemed forced and designed to be catch phrases. Operation 021 seemed ‘story-less’ to most of the people, which is exact opposite to the previous Shaan-starrer Waar.
The biggest problem with Operation 021 is the disconnect between the marketing of the film and the actual product. It was a wonderful movie, but not the one people were prepared for. Ignore all of the Waar comparisons you’re going to hear; this film is on a different spectrum entirely.
Operation 021 was booed at Bambino and Capri cinema Karachi, and was taken off the second day of EID! The dull response wasn’t all because of the movie’s faults but also due to the release of comedy-thriller, Nabeel Qureshi’s ‘Na Maloom Afraad’.
Na Maloom Afraad is not like typical Pakistani or Bollywood movies merely based on a villain and a love story. It is a comedy thriller movie targeting the unexplored topic related to the biggest city of Pakistan, Karachi. Everything about the movie is simply classy and way different including the story, cast, cinematography, execution and music specially, which is catchy and did great!
The movie was seen by many celebrities & the reviews were extremely positive.
‘You will burst into laughter while watching the movie. Na Maloom Afraad is an excellent film. Everything is perfect, the script. performances & direction. After watching the movie you can proudly say that we are no less than anyone.’ – Mohib Mirza review after Na Maloom Afraad premiere show.
‘I was expecting a lot from the movie and now I can happily say that the movie was much better than my expectations. Nabeel Qureshi (Director of Na Maloom Afraad) did a brilliant job. Everybody in the cast did a brilliant job. It is the first movie ever which is showing the humor of Pakistan which is really really good. I congratulate each and everyone for such an amazing movie.’ – Farhan Saeed review after Na Maloom Afraad premiere show.
Despite the release of Hrithik’s Bang Bang as well, both the Pakistani made pictures did great grossing 5.5 million on the first day, slightly lower than Bollywood’s product. We really hope to see such movies from our own soil as the trend is settled.
