Chhalawa gets a star-studded premiere in Karachi

Wajahat Rauf’s premiere for his third film, Chhalawa, was extremely well attended. Credit to the man’s terrific good will and networking skills that most of the industry big wigs turned up to support him and two stars who couldn’t make it – Mahira Khan and Humayun Saeed – sent video messages. It was a fun evening for more than one reason.It would be misleading to say that Chhalawa is a great film but what it is, is a feel-good, family entertainer. There are elements that make up for its short comings, most evidently the big screen debut of Zara Noor Abbas, who completely ruled the screen and is undoubtedly the next big thing to look out for. She and her real-life hubby, Asad Siddiqui shared good chemistry in the film. Mehwish Hayat brought her lucky charm to the table and while had a restricted role to work with initially, flew after her performance to the racy ‘Chidya’. Mehwish is truly a film star and she’s hard to ignore on the screen. Azfar Rehman, unfortunately could not command the same attention that Humayun Saeed or Fahad Mustafa do as Mehwish’s heroes.While Chhalawa may not be one of the year’s stronger films, it should be able to pull in the people for its cast, its songs and its general sense of happiness, humour and colour. It most definitely is better than Wajahat’s previous two attempts – Karachi Se Lahore and Lahore Se Aagey – and it’s important to acknowledge that slowly and steadily, his films are getting better.

from The News International - Instep Today http://bit.ly/2wBCcsY