A slew of Pakistani films including Baaji, Wrong No 2, Heer Maan Ja and Superstar are presently running in cinemas nationwide as well as worldwide in certain circuits. While all these titles are doing fairly well at the box office, the year 2019 for films isn’t yet over for Pakistani movies to look forward to and several are lined up for the coming months. One of them is the relatively lesser known, upcoming film Daal Chaawal, directed by Awais Khan and co-produced by Akbar Nasir Khan and Syed Asad Ali, which aims to pay tribute to the police force and the martyrs that lose their lives in the line of duty.
According to the film’s official Facebook page, “Daal Chaawal is based on the remarkable story of a struggling young man, Ahmed (essayed by Ahmed Sufyan) and woman, Sonia (essayed by Momina Iqbal), who have high aspirations to not only succeed but also to fight against injustice. Both, with a choice of pursuing right and wrong, embark on a journey where they help bring end to an era of violence and crime. The film captures the trials and challenges of Ahmed and Sonia’s life and how the two help create a safe police culture in Pakistan.”
The Punjab Safe City Authority (PSCA) recently released an official trailer of the film that will highlight the contributions and sacrifices made by the police force. The film features an ensemble cast including Ahmed Sufyan, Momina Iqbal, Shafqat Cheema, Salman Shahid, Saima Saleem, Aliya Bukhari, Ali Khan, Hamza Feroz, Babar Khan, Zubair Sharik, Mustaqeem, Abdullah Malik and Sohail Tariq.
As per the trailer, Daal Chaawal is based on true events and is set in Lahore; the film tackles issues that confront our country at present. Extremism, terrorism, injustice, inflation and price-hikes are some of the problems at hand that will be dealt with in the film, among other things.
Instep got in touch with Akbar Nasir Khan, co-producer, writer and co-lyricist of the film, to find out what inspired him to make this film and what he intends to convey through it.
“We have seen the generation that witnessed the war on terror and lost their lives,” he began to share, given that he has been an active part of the police force for long. “We lost so many friends and death is something that remains fresh in our minds. So we wanted people to realize what it means to sacrifice one’s life and how it affects martyrs’ friends and families and that’s where the inspiration came from.”
“In Bollywood, they propagate rule of law as a part of national narrative and mostly the police is portrayed in a good light. We have a lack of films that highlight such topics and, with very few films coming out in Pakistan each year, we wanted to reflect this through our film,” he furthered.
Given that 65 per cent of our population is the youth, producers aimed at catering to them; social messaging was a major focus that they wanted to spread on a national level. The film covers youth-related issues such as entrepreneurship, unemployment, crime rate and how young people can support and promote law enforcement in the state.
“The film conveys important messages in a subtle manner; it is not preachy or far from reality. One just has to read between the lines,” Khan noted, informing that the film mostly features debutants and promotes young talent.
Music of the film is done by Akbar Nasir Khan while the soundtrack features Rahat Fateh Ali Khan, Jabar Abbas and Maria Meer on vocals. Daal Chaawal is expected to release nationwide on October 4, 2019, while the producers plan to release it in Europe and UAE as well.