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Egyptian suspense-thriller 122 premieres in Karachi

By Buraq Shabbir
Tue, 01, 19

The film has been dubbed in Urdu for local audiences and is a can-watch.

Pakistani films have been ruling the local box office for the last couple of years and the past year was no different. Films like Teefa In Trouble, Donkey King, Jawani Phir Nahi Ani 2, Load Wedding and Parwaaz Hai Junoon did very well at the box office while some of them even broke records. This year too, multiple mega projects such as The Legend of Maula Jatt, Parey Hut Love, Loafer and others are expected to release and do well at the box office.

Amidst local content, an Egyptian suspense-thriller called 122 released across Pakistan on January 18 and is currently running in cinemas nationwide. Dubbed in Urdu, it is the first Egyptian film to hit theatres in Pakistan. It premiered in Karachi last week and received mostly positive reviews from press and celebrities in attendance. The story is intriguing and keeps viewers glued; however, it has a few shortcomings.

122 features a diverse and talented cast including Tarek Lotfy, Ahmed Daoud, Amina Khalil, Ahmed Al-Fishawi, Mohammad Lutfi, Mohammed Mamdouh and Jihane Khalil. The film follows the story of a couple, Nasr (Ahmed Dawood) and Omneya (Amina Khalil), as they struggle for survival when trapped during a trip. Their only aim is to get out of the situation safely, not knowing that they will be bombarded with one problem after the other during the night. Would they be able to return safe? You will have to watch the film to find that out.

For now, it is interesting to note that despite being a dubbed version, the film’s audio and visuals were synced except for a few instances. The sound and effects were smooth while the actors did a great job, particularly Tarek Lotfy, who essayed the role of an antagonist. It is a 90-minute long film but the last half an hour was unnecessarily dragged with similar sequences on repeat. Nonetheless, the first 60 minutes make for a good watch with elements of love, romance, suspense, action and thrill. The spirit with which the couple fights back and supports each other despite all odds is commendable.

The film is produced by Saif Oraibi and written by Salah Al Gehiny while it has been edited by Amr Akef. Ahmed Kardous served the role of the DOP whereas Mohamed Nassar is the line producer for the project. 122 has been distributed in Pakistan by ABA Associates Private Limited.

Speaking to Instep on the sidelines of the event, CEO ABA Associates, Ali Chaudhry shared that it is important to expose Pakistani viewers to international films beyond Bollywood and Hollywood. They should have access to diverse genres and content.

“Egyptian films don’t just reflect on the culture of Egypt but are representative of all Gulf countries, which is why we plan to release more Egyptian films in Pakistan in the future,” he explained. “The production house is based in Egypt but the cast is diverse and comprises actors from UAE, Morocco and other states. The reason we chose 122 over other films was that it was far more challenging to dub songs from other languages into Urdu as compared to this one.”

When asked about the challenges they faced to bring the movie to Pakistan, he responded, “The main challenge was to dub the movie, the sound and the technical part. There are a lot of technical things that could have been developed more if we had more time; this is something we’d do in future. We will be releasing more Egyptian films here and we hope our industry will continue to support us as they did this time. Our cinema owners were very supportive; the film is presently showing in every cinema all over Pakistan.”