KARACHI: The music launch for upcoming film Lahore Se Aagey at a local hotel on Monday evening consumed more time than it should have, probably because it started 90 minutes later than its scheduled time. Still, there were moments which made the audience enjoy the event.

Actor Abdullah Farhat, who is playing the part of the villain in the film, hosted the programme. He began by delivering a little speech telling the audience about what made him accept the offer to anchor the launch. It had funny bits. He then invited the lead actors of Lahore Se Aagey Saba Qamar and Yasir Hussain on stage.

Ms Qamar said she accepted to act in the movie because it was ‘different’ and had a ‘different timing’. She said she was a director’s actor and fully trusted the director and producer of the film Wajahat Rauf’s conviction. She said while doing the part of a pop singer she did not particularly study the life and work of someone like Nazia Hasan, but what she found ‘common’ between her role and her real self was the energy that the character had. She said she had been working for television, and the big screen was different because characters appeared larger than life in films.

Mr Hussain, who has also written the script for the film, said he could not solely take credit for writing the screenplay, because he and Mr Rauf penned it together. Both he and Ms Qamar said their favourite song from the soundtrack was ‘Be Fikrya’.

Mr Rauf said production-wise Lahore Se Aagey was different from his previous film Karachi Se Lahore. He said you learned from your mistakes. He said only when you go into a cinema and notice the audience’s reactions that you realise what they liked.

Actor Behroz Sabzwari said films were different from TV or theatre plays because they needed ‘proper advertisement’. He said he was proud to be a part of the venture. He lauded Mr Rauf for providing his crew with ‘comfort’ during the filming process.

Actress Rubina Ashraf said she was a passionate person. She said she was generally passionate about acting and filmmaking. She said in terms of script, the film was her favourite.

Shiraz Uppal has composed the songs for the film. He said earlier he didn’t compose film soundtracks for the kind of projects he wanted himself to be associated with weren’t being made. It all, he said, started with Bol in which he composed a song. He said he enjoyed being part of Lahore Se Aagey and appreciated the director for giving him a ‘free hand’.

In between conversation, the trailer for the film was shown and songs were sung.

Lahore Se Aagey will release on Nov 11.

Published in Dawn October 25th, 2016