Later this week, Friday to be precise, Pakistan’s first official superhero film, the ambitious Project Ghazi, which stars Syra Shahroz, Sheheryar Munawar and Humayun Saeed, will make its way across cinemas nationwide.
CultureVulture
As Project Ghazi, Pakistan’s first official superhero film, gears up to make an appearance this week, Instep looks at how this genre is evolving presently.
Later this week, Friday to be precise, Pakistan’s first official superhero film, the ambitious Project Ghazi, which stars Syra Shahroz, Sheheryar Munawar and Humayun Saeed, will make its way across cinemas nationwide.
In terms of a reference point, the film’s producer, Ali Raza, maintains that thematically Project Ghazi is similar to Marvel’s Captain America in the sense that it’s about being on the side of good. Similarly, Shahroz noted that she felt more like Batman while Sheheryar Munawar, also speaking to Instep noted, “I felt more Jason Bourne in the film. It’s very close to the entire concept as well. As in, Bourne’s a normal person with extra speed, precognition...”
The superhero genre is certainly new to Pakistani films but it’s not new to Pakistanis who are fairly exposed to the superhero genre and films from Marvel and DC Comics universe. But while Pakistan has taken the first major step in exploring this genre with Project Ghazi, its evolution and what it needs to be has become a topic of interest in the West. With the emergence of films like Suicide Squad, Deadpool and Batman vs. Superman: Dawn of Justice, the superhero need not be entirely good or bad but more real and convincing. What is necessary is that the films manage an equal balance of darkness and light rather than overindulging in either.
Chief film critic for Variety, Owen Gleiberman, thinks the fix lies somewhere in the middle. “We’re creeping up to the 40th anniversary of the big-budget comic-book superhero movie (they started with Superman, in 1978), and if the years have taught us anything about the genre, it is this: When a superhero adventure is too light or too dark, it risks teetering into triviality. The great superhero films are unique blossoms, but what they have in common is a knack for striking the ideal balance, so that the ominous fate of the world and the pleasure of high-flying invincibility don’t fight each other, they reinforce each other.”
This question has become even more significant since yet another Spider-Man film is upon us. After three films with Toby Maguire and another two featuring Andrew Garfield, Marvel has rebooted the Spider-Man franchise once again, only this time it’s with Tom Holland. Pakistan is attempting a superhero film with Project Ghazi while India too has a possible film in the pipeline with Ranbir Kapoor taking on the role.
But as Variety notes, “Maybe, after last year, the light/dark pendulum needs to tilt toward the light. Or maybe that’s where the overseers of the Marvel Cinematic Universe would like to see it stay. But I hope not. If we’re going to be swimming, as a culture, in comic-book cinema, then we should be asking for greatness from comic-book cinema. And that means the lightness and the darkness elevated into something more than an escapist tic. It means the lightness and the darkness locked in a dance of destiny.”
