KARACHI: Even though the red carpet area where the cast and crew of Pinky Memsaab had gathered to strike a pose for press photographers was rather small, and the flurry of activity leaving little room for media men to move around, the premiere of the film on Thursday evening at a local multiplex went on pretty smoothly.

Interestingly, the director of the film, Shazia Ali Khan, was one of the first ones, if not the first one, to engage with the media. She was more than willing to answer their trite questions with a nice little smile. The film-maker was followed by the cast, led by Adnan Jaffar, who is playing the male protagonist in the film, and Shamim Hilaly. The atmosphere was filled with the usual buzz of showbiz chitchat. Chairman Eve­ready Pictures Satish Anand was also passionately involved in discussions with whoever sought his opinion on the current state of the Pakistan film industry. Talking to Dawn he said, “I’m an ardent supporter of Pakistani cinema, as I should be. Films that have a reasonable chance of being able to hold through the first weekend should be encouraged so that new film-makers’ dreams can materialise.”

On the box office hopes of Pinky Memsaab Mr Anand said there were no lofty expectations, because “it isn’t a commercial film”.

Shazia Ali Khan described her film in the following words: “It’s a humble effort. I’ve written, directed and co-produced it. I’m an expat myself, so it’s about expat Pakistanis living in Dubai.”

Answering the questions about the subject of the story, she replied it had several. “It’s about class divide between Pakistanis living abroad; it’s about changing relationship between your domestic staff when they come and live with you; it’s about love, jealousy and self-discovery.”

As far as the box office side of the movie is concerned, she remarked: “I have faith in the audience.” When asked to define the kind of movie she has made, she said, “It’s alternative cinema, it doesn’t follow commercial formulas.”

Ms Khan was also all praise for the local film industry. “I think it’s amazing the way we have evolved in the last three to four years. We had a good history of cinema, but then there were hiccups in the middle. We’re on our way now.”

The invitees entered the cinema halls in two phases. The first group stepped into a particular hall before 8pm and the second into another after that.

Pinky Memsaab pivots around the character of Pinky (Hajira Yamin), a girl living in a village in Punjab. She’s sent to Dubai to serve as a rich woman Mehr’s (Kiran Malik) maid. Mehr, a writer, is married to Hasan (Adnan Jaffar) who is deeply immersed in his business goings-on.

It’s a well-meaning film.

Published in Dawn, December 8th, 2018