KARACHI: The premiere for the film Laal Kabootar, directed by Kamal Khan, at a local multiplex on Thursday night was perhaps the most eagerly awaited movie event of 2019. The big number of showbiz people and members of the entertainment media that turned up vouched for how well the trailer for the film had been received.

As it always happens, and there’s no use grousing about it anymore, the stars of Laal Kabootar didn’t appear on the red carpet on time. Surprisingly, the brother-sister duo producers of the project — Kamil Chima and Hania Chima — were the first ones to step into the concession area. They looked super happy and excited about everything, and interacted with the journos gleefully. They were optimistic about the reception of the project, highly praising the cast (Ahmed Ali Akbar, Mansha Pasha, Rashid Farooqi, Faiza Gillani and Salim Mairaj, etc) and director Kamal Khan. Another good thing that they did was that prior to the start of the screening they addressed the audience, short and sweet, hoping that cinema-goers would like their production.

To support their effort, known actors and technicians who are not part of Laal Kabootar also showed up at the screening. One of them was the seasoned artist Irfan Khoosat. Talking to Dawn about the bandied-about phrase ‘revival of cinema’ he said, “Of course revival is happening. It’s just that the speed is a bit slow.” On the quality of film content, he argued, “Content alone is nothing. There’s plot, there’s the story and the camera needs much more than that. The entire team [involved in a motion picture] should be good.”

It was around a quarter to 10 that Laal Kabootar was shown to the invitees.

The heart of the story is the character named Adeel (Ahmed Ali Akbar). He drives a red-coloured online cab, a small-time crook that is in cahoots with two more boys, robs his customers of their belongings by playing the innocent driver. Reason: he wants to go to Dubai for pastures green and for that he needs to give a hefty amount of money to an agent (Meesam Naqvi). It all, however, begins with a sequence where Aliya (Mansha Pasha) is in a car with her journalist husband (Ali Kazmi). Suddenly, a gunman comes near them and kills him. Aliya vaguely remembers the killer who is wearing a red hat, and is never able to erase the loving memory of her hubby from her mind. In the meantime, Adeel, in order to earn more and more bucks to land in the UAE, hatches a plan with his fellow criminals to steal from him the car that he drives.

Fate brings Aliya and Adeel together as she, while smelling a clue to her husband’s killer, books his car. But the big-shot villain (we hear phrases such as land mafia and china cutting in that connection) pre-empts her intent and both Aliya’s and Adeel’s plans get botched up, creating further complications. This is where a policeman (Rashid Farooqi) and his wife (Faiza Gillani) also enter the main plot, and the story, with Adeel’s goal and Aliya’s mission, moves towards a thrilling climax.

It would be unfair not to praise the effort put in by the makers of Laal Kabootar, especially its cast. All the actors have done a noteworthy job. Kudos to Ahmed Ali Akbar (for being mindfully understated), Mansha Pasha, Faiza Gillani, Akbar Islam (Adeel’s deranged father), Meesam Naqvi, Rashid Farooqi, Saad Zameer and Arsalan (who essay the roles of Adeel’s partners in crime) and Salim Mairaj for being at the top of their game.

The director Kamal Khan has emerged as someone who knows the art of film-making. He is talented, make no mistake. But he seems to rely more on instinct than reason. It’s not a bad thing when it comes to creative pursuits. There are some sparkling scenes in the film which will be remembered for a long time. What he needs to be wary of is that not to let emotion get the better of logic (in the local context). For example, it is strange that when the police inquire Aliya after the botched-up plan, they never call Adeel for interrogation, who was in the driver’s seat. To boot, Adeel meets Aliya outside of the police station she has just stepped out of to convince her that he can help her find the killer of her husband. Pakistani police don’t work this way. Also, the framing of shots: Khan seems to be fond of taking a single shot when two or three people are engaged in a conversation, such as the one when Adeel and two of his friends are squabbling over something. Close-ups, if not inserts, could have heightened the effect of that intense scene.

These are minor observations, and one is sure that the film-maker has valid explanations for them. The overall impact of the film is powerful, and one is particularly impressed by the fact that Khan wraps up things in 90 minutes, which not many Pakistani film-makers can do.

Published in Dawn, March 23rd, 2019