Making his debut as director with Laal Kabootar, Kamal Khan should be thrilled. His gritty film, in which Karachi is as much a character as protagonists Mansha Pasha and Ahmed Ali Akbar, with cinematography by Mo Azmi, background score by Danial Hyatt and music by Taha Malik, is having quite a run.
After being selected by Pakistan Oscar committee’s as the official submission to Oscars 2020, the film is now coming back to Pakistani cinema houses.
Produced by Nehr Ghar Films with Hania Chima and Kamil Chima attached as executive producers, Laal Kabootar is being re-released and heading to the big screen from October 11 – in collaboration with GEO Entertainment as channel partners and Footprint as official distributors.
Laal Kabootar, with an extended cast that includes Rashid Farooqui, Saleem Meraj, Ali Kazmi, Shamim Hilaly, Akbar Islam, Syed Arsalan, Saad Fareedi, Hammad Siddiq, Ishtiaq Omar, Meesum Naqvi, Faiza Gillani, Mohammed Ahmed and Kaleem Ghour, is finally getting the attention it deserves.
The film, in which Ahmed Ali Akbar essays a hustling taxi driver looking for a way out of Karachi and Mansha Pasha essays the headstrong Aliya Malik, has won the Archana Soy Audience Award for Best Feature Film at the Tasveer South Asian Film Festival 2019 in Seattle. It was also screened as an official selection at the Singapore South Asian International Film Festival 2019 and at the prestigious Washington DC South Asian Film Festival 2019, where actor Ahmed Ali Akbar won the Best Actor Male Award for his very convincing performance.