maula jatt

Starring: Fawad Khan, Mahira Khan, Hamza Abbasi & Humaima Malick

Screenplay & Direction by Bilal Lashari

Language: Punjabi

Pakistan has waited a long time for a movie like this! The golden age of Lollywood has been dead for decades, but this movie feels like it may be getting a revival. A remake of the original from the 1960s, the film brings this folk tale to life, sans any random modern additions. Pakistani cinema is often overshadowed by larger Indian films, especially in foreign markets such as Dubai, but the acting displayed in Maula Jatt just indicates that there is tremendous talent just waiting to be exploited in Pakistan. I have never in my life seen an entire cinema watching a Pakistani picture, even in Pakistan, but this film proved me wrong.

Fawad Khan & Hamza Abbasi are seasoned veterans in the Pakistani acting industry, and so they, as expected, performed exceptionally well. Mahira Khan was disappointing : she was only put in the movie for the sake of having a big-name star. However, Humaima Malick performed her role of Daro exceptionally! She embodied the character : body and soul. She can definitely be considered to be a rising star, as well as Gohar Rasheed, who played the role of the almost psychopathic Maakha perfectly.

One important feature to note is the cinematography! I can tell you this for sure : THIS movie is Oscar standard in this category. Whilst I may be biassed as an overzealous Pakistani watching this film, I personally believe that the cinematography in this film far outpaces some of the Oscars’ previous cinematography winners. I’ll leave you to guess which film I’m talking about. The only issue was that I don’t really understand Punjabi fluently, and so I was reliant on the English subtitles which weren't very good. Therefore, I missed the subtle jokes and references that were made in the film which were loved by the predominantly Punjabi audience around me. For that reason alone, 7/10