KARACHI: Usually the red carpet razzmatazz at film premiers takes time to attract the media’s attention because the stars and guests arrive late. That was not particularly the case on Wednesday evening at Nueplex cinema where Ishrat Made in China, directed by Mohib Mirza who also plays the title role in the film, was being premiered. Half an hour into the event, the space was abuzz with activity – which included chatting, screaming and whistling.

Who was whistling? No, not fans or groupies of actors, but Mirza himself. Whenever he wanted a section of cameramen or pen-pushers to take notice of someone, he was with (co-actors in the project Sanam Saeed, Shabbir Jan etc or other showbiz glitterati) on the red carpet, he would whistle one of the loudest whistles you would ever hear.

For context, Ishrat Baji was a successful sitcom that ran in the mid-2000s on one of the local TV channels. Mirza played the quirky lead role in it. So, the guess was that the movie had something to do with the TV show. Talking to Dawn, Mohib Mirza summarily rejected the notion that Ishrat Made in China had anything to do with the sitcom. “It is a purely commercial film.” When asked to define the ‘commercial’ part of his answer, he replied, “Songs, action, comedy, romance… I promise you, you would not have seen such action sequences [in Pakistani films],” adding he is satisfied with the end result of his effort.

On the question of the future of cinema in the country, Mirza, who does not like to waste a witty a remark, said, “If this movie works, the future is bright (agar yeh chal gai to chal jaey ga).”

At 9:15pm the guests that comprised a big number of showbiz personalities were allowed to step into the cinema halls where the movie was being shown. They packed them in no time and enjoyed their hearts out. Or so it seemed.

Ishrat Made in China has its countrywide release on Thursday, March 3.

Published in Dawn, March 4th, 2022