KARACHI: Film premieres are usually pretty swashbuckling events. But on Thursday evening the film Saawan’s premiere at a local multiplex was neither flashy nor understated. It was just fine. Perhaps because of the content of the film directed by Farhan Alam: it is about a physically handicapped child’s struggle to come to terms with his fate.

Syed Karam Hussain is the young boy who plays the titular character of Saawan. The 14-year-old unassuming child moved around the red carpet area on Thursday as if trying to figure out his way into, or out of, it. When the media, which didn’t look overly busy that day, found out that Karam was the protagonist in the story, they tried to get a comment or two out of him. Talking to Dawn, he said: “My father is a director himself. When Farhan Alam penned the film, he called my papa. Papa told me about the part, and that’s how I got the film.”

Karam plays the role of a disabled kid — his legs don’t work. It must have taken him some time to prep for the character. “I observed children with disabilities. Also, my father and seniors helped me a lot in preparation.”

Karam is 14 but has enough showbiz acumen not to give a wrong statement. He said he liked the work of all his co-actors and technicians in the film. As for his favourite actor and actress in Pakistan, well, they are Faysal Qureshi and Mahira Khan.

Arif Bahalim plays the boy’s father in the story. He said: “I play the central character of Saawan’s father. He has a typical tribal mindset. He comes from Balochistan. On surface my character would seem that of a cruel guy, but actually he wants his son to stand on his feet.”

This sounds like a serious, somewhat offbeat story, whereas these days box office numbers weigh heavily on people’s minds. Lately, Punjab Nahin Jaungi has reportedly raked in a more than decent amount of money. To this Bahalim said: “Filmmakers tend to think that there are two kinds of cinemas — commercial and parallel. What the filmmakers do is to present stories that take place in society. Some of them do it in a larger than life way, others keep it simple. Saawan has been accepted by Pakistan’s Oscar selection committee, and we are hoping that it will be selected for the Oscars.”

As usual, apart from the cast and crew of the film, members of the showbiz fraternity were there to support their colleagues. TV star Myra Khan said: “Revival of the film industry has already taken place. Now people are experimenting. We have seen commercial movies and Saawan is an arty one.”

Describing ‘arty’, she said the story was based on real events and was closer to reality. She also made an interesting comment about box office numbers. “Wo loag khud hi likh rahey hotay hain.” (They write the numbers themselves.) But she clarified the remark was not related to the recent two box commercial hits — Punjab Nahin Jaungi and Na Maloom Afraad 2 — but was a general comment.

According to Myra Khan, Saawan has been appreciated abroad, in festivals, and hoped that it would also be well received in Pakistan.

The cinema where writers and artists were seated wasn’t full, but it didn’t matter because once the film began, its cinematography did manage to have their undivided attention.

Saawan was released countrywide on Friday.

Published in Dawn, September 16th, 2017