KARACHI: The theatrical trailer of what has been described as ‘Pakistan’s biggest film ever’, Yalghaar, was unveiled at a press meet at a local hotel on Monday evening.

The film stars Ayub Khoso, Shaan Shahid, Humayun Saeed, Bilal Ashraf, Armeena Khan, Adnan Siddiqui, Alezee Nasser, Atiya Khan and Umair Jaswal to name a few. Besides Shaan and Umair Jaswal, all were present on the occasion. The event was also attended by the who’s who of the industry, including legendary film producer Satish Anand, Hum network head Sultana Siddiqui as well as TV anchor Sana Bucha, who makes her film debut in the movie.

The launch ceremony started quite late due to the traffic situation in the city’s Red Zone and even when the event started, writer and director Dr Hassan Waqas Rana took a lot of time to introduce his cast. However, the mood changed when he began to pay tribute to the brave soldiers who spend the better part of their lives defending the nation and even sacrifice their lives. The lengthy speech by the ‘Doc’ made up for lost time as he laid down each detail the press wanted to know in his extempore manner.

It was during his speech that people found out that one of the protagonists, Bilal Ashraf, spent seven and a half months with the special forces; Armeena Rana Khan did not charge for the film; Humayun Saeed was reluctant to play the main antagonist and Ali Rehman Khan had to shave his facial hair to be part of the film, four days before pack-up.

The audience also got to know about a free-fall sequence where members of the cast had to jump from a moving helicopter at 22,000 feet and film the ‘fall’ at the same time. Two of the actors had to be trained in manoeuvring helicopters, as they were playing fighter pilots while the production manager was chosen to act despite never having appeared in front of the camera.

The film director went emotional during his speech when he was talking about a 24-year-old colleague who died while defending the country.

The trailer of Yalghaar was then unveiled and it appeared to mesmerise the audience as well as members of the cast. The explosions, the emotions and the expressions were very real and every actor deserved praise for being in character. In Shaan’s absence, Humayun Saeed was the centre of attraction as the director termed him to be the next major ‘bad guy’ after Noori Nath from Maula Jutt.

In the end, the cast and crew of the film spoke highly of their director; Adnan Siddiqui told the press about the misfiring sequence he was part of while Ayub Khoso was applauded for continuing with the shoot despite being injured in front of the camera.

Published in Dawn, April 25th, 2017