KARACHI: The pre-Eid hullaballoo about one of India’s nationalist parties Maharashtra Navnirman Sena’s (MNA) mindless protest against the screening in Maharashtra of Pakistani film Bin Roye has put an interesting spin on the films either getting released this Eid or labelled Eid releases.

To be honest, cine-goers in Karachi have quite a bit to choose from. There are six films that the multiplexes and cinema houses (Bambino, Capri) in the city are offering: one, a Bollywood mega project, three from Hollywood and two Pakistani movies, including Bin Roye, that might garner more viewership than expected.

The other Pakistani film is Wrong No. Directed by television actor Yasir Nawaz, the romantic comedy’s cast members are Javed Sheikh, Danish Taimur, Sohai Ali Abro, Janita Asma, Danish Nawaz, Nadeem Jafri and Shafqat Cheema. Recently when the director of the film was asked about the difference between working for television and on the silver screen, he remarked that in TV serials 1,000 scenes needed to be shot, whereas in the latter, 100 scenes would do the job. This can serve as an indicator that the film is replete with one-liners and situations that one gets to hear and see in TV plays.

Bin Roye is directed by Momina Duraid and Shahzad Kashmiri. On July 15 it had a successful exclusive premiere for the media and members of the showbiz industry at Nuplex. It stars Mahira Khan, Humayun Saeed, Javed Sheikh, Armeena Rana Khan and Zeba Bakhtiar. The film has been released both in India and Pakistan simultaneously. Sources say that a top Indian actor has phoned a member of the Sindh Censor Board, assuring him that he will try to persuade the protesters in Maharashtra to let the film be screened in their province.

The fifth instalment of the Terminator series starring Arnold Schwarzenegger falls into the ‘English’ films category that movie buffs will be watching this Eid. It is a big budget, action-packed venture helmed by Alan Taylor. The other two Hollywood offerings are Ant-Man based on a Marvel comics’ character and the light-hearted animated film Minions.

Perhaps the most anticipated movie of the season is Bollywood’s Bajrangi Bhaijaan with Salman Khan playing the lead role. That Pakistan’s censor boards have passed the project without much ado is testimony to the fact that it has a storyline which doesn’t court controversy. Kabir Khan is the director of the film.

Talking to Dawn about the Pakistani films, director and eminent media person Ghazanfar Ali said: “It’s a good beginning. But we should think of making better movies. When we copy we become secondary; we think the formula works, we have to be as good as films churned out by other industries. It’s not fair to compare our films to Bollywood’s because we don’t have enough money.”

Anita Kenneth, head of marketing at Atrium cinema, had a different take on the subject: “It’s good that Pakistani films are coming up. I particularly liked Bin Roye: it is vibrant, has good visuals, great direction. As for the content, it’s up to the audience to give their views on it. And I think Bajrangi Bhaijaan is a very positive film.”

Indeed. Only a positive approach to filmmaking will hold the film fraternity all around the world in good stead.

Published in Dawn, July 18th, 2015

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