Renowned music video and ad director Saqib Malik recently announced the cast of his upcoming debut film, Baaji that is expected to release next year. Dubbed as a social drama-thriller, the film features Meera ji, Osman Khalid Butt, Amna Ilyas, Mohsin Abbas Haider, Ali Kazmi and veterans Nayyar Ejaz and Nisho in key roles.
Speaking to Instep on the sidelines of a recent event, Saqib Malik shared that Baaji stars Meera in the titular role and the film has a social message.
“I think there is always a message in everything; sometimes it is blurted out, other times it’s embedded in the narrative of the film.”
Responding to what makes Baaji different from other Pakistani films that have released earlier (post cinema revival), the director noted, “First, because it has Meera ji in it and secondly, the storyline is very different. I feel casting, storyline and treatment make a film different – all of these things in Baaji are very unique. It has got no weddings.”
When asked where the title came from, Malik responded that one will have to watch the film to find that out.
As per the initial press release, Baaji is set against the backdrop of ‘fading Lollywood and the emerging new order of the Pakistani film industry’. It is co-written by Irfan Ahmed Urfi and Saqib Malik and is expected to be high on glamour and drama. Baaji hopes to pay tribute to the riveting story and character-oriented classics of Pakistani cinema of the seventies but the tone and treatment will be contemporary.