It looks like Mahira Khan has unequivocally decided to step out of her comfort zone. She has done so by working back-to-back with different directors and actors, after longtime collaborators: directors Sarmad Khoosat, Shoaib Mansoor, Asim Raza and co-stars: Sheheryar Munawar and Fawad Khan.
After starring in Mohammed Ehteshamuddin-directed Superstar with a screenplay by Azaan Sami Khan and co-star (for the first time) Bilal Ashraf earlier this year, Mahira Khan is all set to work with actor/host and a celebrity in his own right (with enormous following), Fahad Mustafa. It will be their first film together with Nabeel Qureshi helming the project, and Filmwala Pictures producing. Mahira did have a cameo in Actor in Law but cameo does not maketh the film.
The movie, called Quaid-e-Azam Zindabad, is scheduled to release in 2020 and will be one of the big films to look out for come next year.
Khan racked up favourable reviews for her career-best performance in Superstar and is following it up with another gambit.
In a conversation we had during a media junket for Superstar, Mahira Khan had noted that she is not interested in doing mediocre films – even if her character is fabulous. She explained, “We are nothing. We don’t stand alone and that’s also a beautiful part about films and what we do. Nobody likes us in isolation. We’re a part of a whole. If the whole doesn’t work, us, alone, can’t do anything.”
Given that and the trio of Nabeel Qureshi (director), Fizza Ali Mirza (producer) and Fahad Mustafa’s (actor) past record, the film should make for an interesting watch to say the least.
There is also the fact that Fahad Mustafa, and Mehwish Hayat as a pair were becoming a regularity and slightly predictable. And though there is nothing wrong in working with the same people, particularly if the chemistry works, a new pair, a new story is what Pakistani cinema needs. We can experiment within the confines of what is considered commercial cinema without it being a perilous journey.
In the meantime, those waiting to see Mahira Khan and Fawad Khan in Bilal Lashari’s magnum opus, The Legend of Maula Jatt might have to wait a bit longer since grapevine suggests that the film’s release has been pushed to next year.
