The lead cast, Mohib Mirza, Sanam Saeed and Adeel Hashmi, deserve a round of applause for turning a simple story into a hilariously entertaining journey.
Mohib Mirza, Sanam Saeed and Adeel Hashmi shine in the unpretentious Bachaana
Karachi:Premiering in Karachi after a good showing in UAE and Lahore, Bachaana, a rom-com film that brings television and theatre darling Sanam Saeed to the big screen for the first time, alongside Mohib Mirza and Adeel Hashmi, lives up to expectations, mostly.
Funny, light and unpretentious, it’s a clean and simple film that surprises you because of its quick-wit humour, lush green landscapes and three fabulous actors. But first let’s talk a bit about the premiere in Karachi which felt slightly overcrowded as an eager audience arrived in anticipation and jumped at the chance of watching the film with its cast in the audience.
Several noteworthy names made a point of showing up, lending support to the ongoing revival of cinema that is growing from strength to strength with every film.
Directors Sohail Javed, Ahsan Rahim and Wajahat Rauf, theatre diva Nida Butt alongside musician-husband Hamza Jafri, singer-actor Tara Mehmood were some of the faces in the audience who were looking forward to the film.
As for the film itself, Bachaana rides on the coattails of its actors who take a simple, perhaps too simple a story and run with it and turn it into a hilarious journey. Our story begins in Mauritius where Vicky (Mohib Mirza), a Pakistani national lives and works as a taxi driver. He runs into Alia, an Indian girl, and Jehangir at the airport and gives them a ride to the hotel. A nefarious knock on the door, a bag full of illicit drugs and Alia’s happy journey quickly turns into a nasty affair as she relies on this friendly taxi driver to help her. What happens next… that’s for you to find it.
There are plenty of reasons why Bachaana works. First off is the cast and they are an exceptional bunch. Mohib Mirza as a Pakistani taxi driver stands out because the quick-wit humour has to be matched with the right emotions and facial expressions. Mohib brings conviction and believability to the role. He takes the character of Vicky and transforms it into a hero (no, not the Raja Hindustani OTT melodrama) you can root for. Star of the show, Mirza’s performance is one that should fetch him meatier roles in the future. His comfort level in front of the camera is remarkable.
Model/Actress Fia Khan (left) and the team of Lahore Se Aagey - Wajahat Rauf, Saba Qamar and Yasir Hussain - attended the star-studded premiere of the Bachaana in Karachi.
Adeel Hashmi’s comical past is left far behind as he stars as the menacing Jehangir. With few dialogues, it’s Adeel’s ominous demanour, cold dead eyes and an eerie twist of the neck that knocks it out of the park. Though the role is a supporting one, Adeel Hashmi takes every scene and challenges your pre-conceived notions about him. This is damn smart casting. Props to Nasir Khan for making the call.
Sanam Saeed as the playful, talkative and ultimately innocent Alia is very, very good. In some places, you can sense hesitancy, a certain nervousness but Saeed camouflages it well throughout this film. She lands almost as many jokes as Vicky, which is a feat in itself. The Indo-Pak jokes and the banter between Vicky and Alia are the heart of this film. In fact, the first half sales by like a breeze.
And because Bachaana is shot entirely in Mauritius, it uses the location to a sharp advantage. Every frame is lush and beautiful. The camera work, in particular, deserves applause because Bachaana is not shot like a television serial. The climax in particular, is shot with style.
Bachaana has an identity, one that tells you that the colourful, neighbouring world of Bollywood is not an inspiration and there are no tacky item songs.
The film has some imperfections: the music is forgettable except for the title track which is thumping fun. SYMT’s ‘Koi Labda’ is misused because the Coke Studio version of the same track (which also features Sanam Marvi alongside Haroon Shahid) is infinitely superior to the version used in the film.
The plot is too straightforward, especially the climax, which almost feels anti-climatic. But these are faults that can be overlooked because the overall product is, in the end, good. You don’t encounter product placement nor do you encounter a narrative that is regressive. Why does Alia need someone to save her? Within the context of the film, you realize that it’s a response to her situation. In a strange, foreign land where she has no command over the language, relying on a stranger makes complete sense. In the end, Bachaana works because they both save each other. And in cinematic terms, there’s nothing wrong with that.