Kamal Khan really took the risky route going in with the Anurag Kashyap style contrary to the movies you'd normally expect from Pakistan.
The best thing about this movie is that it took a lesser known cast and didn't rely on the "big names" which also turned out to be a blessing in disguise as a lot of gems were unearthed. Rashid Farooqui in particular caught my eye, it felt like he was born to play the role of a corrupt policeman. Ahmed Ali Akbar stood out too and the short chemistry between the new Mansha Pasha and Ali Qazmi too felt very convincing.
The cinematography felt raw and so captured the gritty and dark side of the city, the aerial shots were just amazing to see.
What wasn't so convincing though was the ending or maybe just the whole buildup to it. Nothing against the outcome but I feel there should've been more screentime and the third act should have been stretched out more, it went a bit fast especially the storyline with the inspector and compromised Mansha's and Saleem's character, both feeling incomplete.
Despite the few weaknesses, this is certainly one of the better movies coming out of this industry, and the fact it was on debut makes it an even better effort, as we desperately need more movies from different genres. There's still a long way to go but this at least was in the correct direction.
Kamal Khan really took the risky route going in with the Anurag Kashyap style contrary to the movies you'd normally expect from Pakistan.
The best thing about this movie is that it took a lesser known cast and didn't rely on the "big names" which also turned out to be a blessing in disguise as a lot of gems were unearthed. Rashid Farooqui in particular caught my eye, it felt like he was born to play the role of a corrupt policeman. Ahmed Ali Akbar stood out too and the short chemistry between the new Mansha Pasha and Ali Qazmi too felt very convincing.
The cinematography felt raw and so captured the gritty and dark side of the city, the aerial shots were just amazing to see.
What wasn't so convincing though was the ending or maybe just the whole buildup to it. Nothing against the outcome but I feel there should've been more screentime and the third act should have been stretched out more, it went a bit fast especially the storyline with the inspector and compromised Mansha's and Saleem's character, both feeling incomplete.
Despite the few weaknesses, this is certainly one of the better movies coming out of this industry, and the fact it was on debut makes it an even better effort, as we desperately need more movies from different genres. There's still a long way to go but this at least was in the correct direction.
