GCU students produce fan-made Harry Potter movie

LAHORE : Pakistan’s first-ever fan-made Harry Potter movie, “The Last Follower and The Resurrection of Voldemort” by the students of Government College University (GCU), Lahore, was premiered at the university here on Saturday.

The 84-minute film, full of magical visuals and inventive and exciting sequences, was was exclusively premiered at the university’s Bukhari Auditorium, and it held its audience spellbound.

GCU Vice-Chancellor Prof Dr Asghar Zaidi was the chief guest at the movie premier which was attended by a large number of students.

While the Harry Potter fandom is not a stranger to fan-fiction but this is the first time Pakistani youths went this far. The Last Follower and The Resurrection of Voldemort is Pakistan’s first-ever Harry Potter movie filmed at GCU as Hogwarts. The film is produced by a group of young Ravians who also formed their production house, Khyaali Productions. The trailer of the movie was released last year and it had got instant public response and media attention worldwide.

The movie starts after some years of Harry Potter series and we see students roaming in the castle but then the story gets fold with some mysteries later on. The main cast of the movie, includes rising stars Umer Darr, Jazib Alram, Mariam Hassan Naqvi, Talha Chahour, Dua Marium, Sheikh Mubashir and Habib Chaudary. The visual effects are done by Zeeshan Hameed. Ibrahim Hassan is the associate director and production head of the movie. Hammad Javed led production while Sheikh Mubashir is the assistant director of the movie.

The movie has been written and directed by a very talented Ravian, Waleed Akram, who says the Gothic architecture of GCU pushed him to introduce this new genre in the industry.

“I started this venture with a single camera and the whole movie has been shot with this not much high-tech camera.”

He said ‘if there is Hogwarts in this world, it’s GCU Lahore. We are very proud to be associated with the GCU.” Waleed Akram expressed gratitude to Vice-Chancellor Prof Asghar Zaidi for encouragement and support to the team of Khyaali Productions throughout the process of finalising and releasing this movie at GC University. He requested the heads of other universities to grant him permission to exhibit this movie on their campuses. He also shared his plans for cinema release of the movie after permission and clearance from the sensor board.

Speaking on the occasion, Prof Dr Asghar Zaidi said Pakistan was full of talented youths like Waleed, Jaazib, Umer and Mubashir in every field of life. He said leadership needed to nurture the habit of strong encouragements of youths whenever they showed talent like this. He said Khyaali Production formed by the alumni of the GC Dramatic Club had taken the Harry Potter to a whole new level for the Pakistani fans.

The VC wished them success in life, saying "they have all skills and passion to become big filmmakers and make their country and alma mater proud."