Zinda Bhaag – starring Amna Ilyas, Khurram Patras, Salman Ahmad Khan, Zohaib and Naseerudin Shah, seems like a fast-paced, explosive and entertaining Pakistani film, both comical and serious in certain areas – at least what can be deduced from the trailer.
Written and directed by Meenu Gaur and Farjad Nabi and produced by Mazhar Zaidi, the trailer cut is well edited (and hopefully so is the film itself), starting with shots of Lahore and then the introduction to the film’s characters – overall high-quality cinematography. The plot in two short sentences: Three young people in Lahore try to escape the reality of their everyday lives. They succeed in ways they least expected.
The addition of the local music touch adds to the over all flavour, and although some of the visual effects give the impression of being down right tacky, they will probably make the film enjoyable when fused in with all the drama and action going on in the actual feature length film.
The trailer reveals that the film is in both Punjabi and Urdu, which might be a disappointment for those who have a hard time understanding the languages, unless the film is subtitled too.
Some humorous dialogue by Amna Ilyas from the trailer in the midst of all that is going on: “Pata hai computer kay mouse par bathroom say bhee ziyadaa jaraseem hotay hain…to be exact, chaar hazaar saat saw peyntaalees.” And then again: “Main aap ko rasgulleh kee mithaas say ziyadaa, imlee ki khataas say ziyadaa, Pakistan main corruption say ziyadaa pyaar karti hoon.”
During the latter half of the trailer Naseerudin Shah’s character is revealed, who according to an article was in Lahore in the month of March last year to shoot his sequences.
The storyline according to IMDB: What makes a man step into a cargo container that is going to be sealed for days? Why does he step into a flimsy overloaded boat to face a stormy sea? Or dart across international borders dodging bullets? What are the compulsions faced by men in Pakistan, which make them take extreme risks to chase a mirage of a secure future in alien lands? Set against the backdrop of the world of illegal immigration, Zinda Bhaag is a film about three young men trying to escape the reality of their everyday lives ... and succeeding in ways they had least expected. In a nondescript neighbourhood of Lahore, three friends are desperate to get on to the fast track to success. Khaldi, Taambi and Chitta, all in their early twenties, believe that the only way out ... is to the West. The journey that unfolds through the story of this film gives us a peep into what constitutes the everyday in the lives of many young men and women in Pakistan - a sense of entitlement that cannot be fulfilled.
The film will be released this August.
