If not fully, the most part of “Revival of Pakistani Cinema” is a result of movies which were in pipeline for last half a decade. Jalaibee, yet another movie from that pipeline is all set to play its part from March 20, 2015 in Pakistan as well as in five other countries at the same time. The movie is written and directed by Yasir Jaswal and the star cast includes Wiqar Ali Khan, Danish Taimoor, Ali Safina, Uzair Jaswal, Sajid Hasan, Zhalay Sarhadi and Sabeeka Imam.
The “Meet the Press” event of upcoming movie Jalaibee took place yesterday in Movenpick Hotel, Karachi. The event, hosted by a cast member Ali Safina, was attended by the producers, director and the whole star cast of the movie. “I spent a lot of time with the cast, so my team members think no one can do it better than me” Safina introduced himself at the start. He also mentioned that Jalaibee was a project that ideally started three years back.
“It is really hard to make a film in Pakistan; in fact any kind of creative work in Pakistan is very difficult, because of its current situation. Jalaibee is a part of the chain that depicts revival of Pakistani cinema. It was based on a Made in Pakistan campaign. The campaign was initiated by ARY network. They always prioritized maintaining the quality and introducing new solutions in Pakistan” added Safina.
First of all Legendary actor, Sajid Hasan who is playing a big role in the movie, was welcomed along with Danish Taimoor, Adnan Jaffar, and Sabeeka Imam.
“We have been waiting for a long time for an opportunity on very controlled and very civilized theme. I discouraged the director in the starting for which I am sorry now” said Sajid. “I am extremely lucky to work with such talented cast. I came here to thank everyone”.
He also talked about how Pakistani audience should prefer Pakistani movies over Indian.
Sabika also said a few words about how she got the role. She is a London-based Pakistani actress and is playing the role of Sajid Hasan’s daughter “Eeman” in the movie.
“I was actually in London when they casted me. Ehtasham Ansari and Yasir Jaswal were looking for someone to fit the role of Eeman. It was a small role. Yasir told me that Pakistani actresses declined the offer because they did not want to play a smaller role when Zhalay Sarhadi was playing Bunno. I said I am an actress, I don’t care, I love the role and I accepted it” said Sabeeka. “I was so impressed by the teaser that I flew down and did the role”.
Next was Danish Taimoor who is also playing an important role in the movie.
“I got to learn a lot from the team. My chemistry with Ali Safina went really good. You’ll feel it when you will see the movie. I received the offer from the team and I took it lightly but when I read the script, I got very impressed. I could not think about anything else,” told Taimoor.
Adnan Jaffar is playing the role of Dara. When asked he said that the role was inspired by music video Bumbu Sauce.
Executive producer of Jalebi Murtaza Shah, Regional director of Zong Rizwan Siddiqui, Founder and President of ARY Digital Salman Iqbal talked about the business-related aspects and happenings of Jalebi.
A call was also made to Malik Riaz, the owner of Bahria Town, who announced the purchase of 10,000 tickets for Bahria Town residents.
The remaining cast was then called upon the stage which included Yasir Jaswal, the director of the movie, Zhalay Sarhadi, Wiqar Ali Khan and Uzair Jaswal.
The director of the film Yasir Jaswal said “Making a film is a very difficult task whereas watching it, enjoying it and giving remarks about it is pretty easy. There are many people who supported me without whom the idea of them film would be rubbish. The problem was how to spread the film to the audience and ARY Films helped a lot in this regard. When you will go out to watch this movie on 20th March, keep one thing in mind that there isn’t just one single name behind it. Hundred something people were standing in the heat to shoot this movie.”
Uzair shared a few good words that “Pakistani people always prioritize Hollywood movies, then Bollywood and if there is nothing left to watch in the cinema, they go for Pakistani movies. I hope that Jalaibee and other upcoming movies will turn the table and people will start prioritizing Pakistani movies at first place.”
Other than him Wiqar and Zhalay also talked a little about their roles. Zhalay has also done an item number “Jawaani” in Jalaibee.
Watch: Zhalay Sarhadi item song “Jawaani” in Jalaibee movie
“This movie made us feel like we are a family and there is a very close bond.” said Zhalay. “Revival has begun, it’s there, and we just need to give it a push. For some reasons artists and producers have insecurities here. You can look at previously released Pakistani movies and notice that Pakistani films cN do good business too” she continued.
The event met its end with Umair Jaswal singing a few lines from a soundtrack “Jee Raha Houn” of Jalaibee.
Story by Arfa Mahmood with additional input by Arsalan Ali
Photos Courtesy: Zoha Iftikhar
Some selected pictures from the Jalaibee Press event:
