Filmmaker Yasir Nawaz has outdone himself as far as aesthetics, scale and filmmaking is concerned, going by the colourful trailer of his forthcoming biggie, Chakkar.
The trailer for the Neelam Muneer, Ahsan Khan and Yasir Nawaz starrer ‘Chakkar’ has dropped and it’s definitely one that raises numerous questions.
The scale and the grandeur of the film adds to its cinematic appeal. Neelam’s wardrobe and styling is done appropriately for the feature film’s format. More experiment could have been done with Ahsan’s look. Yasir Nawaz looks impactful in his mysterious role.
Produced by Nida Yasir and Yasir Nawaz under the Farid Nawaz Productions banner, this multi-starrer narrates the tale of two twin sisters, one of whom (Zara) is deeply entrenched in the world of glitz and glamor, much to the dismay of the other twin’s husband, played by Ahsan. Nawaz’s directorial feat takes an interesting turn when the twins pull a switcheroo, with Khan’s wife taking the place of her twin at shoots while he is away.
In doing so, she comes face to face with the dramatic upheavals of the industry. This switch is complete with a murder taking place, with the world thinking it is Zara who has been brutally killed. Then the investigation begins in earnest, with numerous suspects at play. However, Khan ends up becoming a prime suspect as well, due to his unfavorable demeanor towards Zara, owing to their interpersonal disagreements.
The investigation is led by Yasir’s character, and with action scenes inundating the trailer as well, one does develop hints of anticipation towards the eventual release of the film.
It is set to be released on Eid-ul-Fitr, Chakkar posits itself to be a murder mystery, with all the promise of masala that desi audiences have grown to love.
Maya Ali appeared on Yasir Hussain’s The After Moon Show in with her best friend Osman Khalid Butt in 2018. During the show’s segment ‘Udta Teer’, Yasir Hussain asked the Parey Hut Love actress that if she had her own personality grooming institute who will be the first person she would give an admission to? The host gave her three options consisting names of “Ayeza Khan, Sana Javed and Neelum Munir.
Maya replied with Neelam’s name and said that, “she needs little grooming, and at some point everyone needs some grooming. She went on to add, “I have also groomed myself, over the time.”
Maya is currently being seen in Anjum Shahzad’s Pehli Si Mohabbat opposite Sheheryar Munawar whereas Neelam will be seen next in Yasir Nawaz’s Chakkar opposite Ahsan Khan.
Saach baat bataoon toh Neelum Munir and Imran Ashraf’s Kaheen Deep Jalay on Geo was my guilty pleasure. The drama was full of well, drama, and it had a heavy dose of masala complete with over-the-top twists and turns which were oh-so-fun to watch. But the last couple of episodes have turned the serial into a painful watch.
Let’s take a quick run through the plot. Rida (Neelum Munir) is the only sister of three brothers: Hatim (Hammad Farooqui), Fahaam (Ali Abbas) and Asim (Syed Arez). The brothers dote on their sister and pamper her to no extent. Rida’s maternal cousin Shamila (Nazish Jahangir) gets married to her eldest brother Fahaam. Shamila is a conniving and manipulative girl who is jealous of Rida because of the attention she gets from her brothers. Shamila’s only brother doesn’t pamper her much and seeing Rida get so much attention from her brothers irks Shamila who then uses every opportunity to mentally torture her sister-in-law.
Meanwhile, Rida gets married to Zeeshan (Imran Ashraf). Zeeshan, who was Hatim’s colleague had fallen in love with Rida from the moment he saw her. The two get married and are happy but soon Zeeshan’s insecurities coupled with Shamila’s manipulation cost them their marriage.
The recent episodes have seen the plot spiral completely out of control. A misunderstanding on Zeeshan’s part leads him to believe that Rida cheated on him. This gives Shamila a chance to lash out on Rida even more and Rida’s brothers who doted on her through the course of the drama now refuse to even acknowledge her to the point that they wish that she was dead. It is impossible to understand how Rida’s brothers just suddenly turned their back on their sister and refuse to believe her innocence. This plot twist is beyond my understanding.
Hatim, Asim and Rida’s mother
Though Zeeshan later realises his mistake and asks Rida for forgiveness, she refuses to forgive him (and rightly so) and the two spend their days crying. Zeeshan, in particular, is very annoying. He cries all the time (not that I’m against men crying) and feels sorry for himself and doesn’t really make much of an effort to make amends. He just hopes that Rida will come around.
On the other hand, Shamila, whose husband Fahaam is shot dead, manipulates her brother-in-law Hatim into marrying her so that she can once again become the bahu of the house. Another over-the-top and absolutely unnecessary plot twist. It’s so annoying to see how the men in the family are so oblivious to Shamila’s actions.
Shamila and Hatim
Despite the frustrations, I don’t want to overlook the positive which is Rida’s relationship with her mother-in-law (Saba Faisal). It is refreshing to see a mother-in-law stand up for her daughter-in-law and criticise her son for being unfair to her. Her character is probably the only balanced one in the entire drama – the rest of them are an emotional mess.
Rida and her mother-in-law
While Kaheen Deep Jalay continues to test my patience, the only reason I will continue to watch the drama is because I’m curious to know Shamila’s end. And I’m pretty sure it’s not going to be a pleasant one. So that should make up for the frustrations. In my opinion, things could have been accelerated and the drama should have wrapped up by now.
Another thing that has been bothering me is how Geo repeats the last ten minutes of the previous episode in the new episode.
Nonetheless, if you’re looking for a masalaydaar drama which does not require too much of your brain cells, give Kaheen Deep Jalay a go. Otherwise given how it’s progressing, or regressing, you can skip it.
Renowned playwright Khalil ur Rehman Qamar’s directorial venture Kaaf Kangana made headlines for all the wrong reasons. The film released last weekend on October 25 and has not opened to good reviews or box office numbers.
The film has an item song featuring Neelum Munir. The song titled Khabon Main has been composed by Sahir Ali Bagga while Aima Baig has lent her vocals.
While the song is picturised like any other item song, with leering men and alcohol bottles, the lyrics are what caught our attention.
The song opens with: “Khwabon main jab main Pakistan gayi re, India main bolay saadi jaan gayi re.”
The lyrics get more bizarre as the song continues, “Eik toh kam**na mujhe ghar lay gaya, ghar main gaye toh wahaan koi nahi tha. Baaton main aakar baatain maan gayi re. India main bolay saadi jaan gayi re.”
Following the backlash on the song, Neelum took to social media to defend herself and said that she “did this song only because this movie is a project of ISPR.”
She added, “Perhaps this is the first and last item song of my life. But you all know that whatever I do, I own it and I do it with pride. Pakistan key liye meri jaan hamesha hazir hey.”
Meanwhile, DG ISPR Major General Asif Ghafoor also took to Twitter to defend the item song. Kaaf Kangana has been made in collaboration with ISPR.
He said that the “item song is by an Indian girl in the movie as per her role.”
In the same tweet, Gen Asif Ghafoor also addressed the controversy surrounding Humera Arshad’s concert at ISPR GHQ on Kashmir Black Day.
Pic 1. The item song is by an indian girl in the movie as per her role, you may watch movie to know the context. Pic 2. It is neither at GHQ (GHQ is at Rwp not Islamabad) nor of an event organised for ISPR as such.
