Directed by Asad-ul-Haq, the Humaima Malick and Sikander Rizwi flick Dekh Magar Pyar Se released just a couple of days ago and one of our readers sent us his review of the movie.
Opening note for those who have seen it, I'm sure your senses are as numb as being hit by an elephant tranquilizer. For those who have not seen it yet, consider yourselves God's chosen ones!
General observations:
What happens when you bring a delusional script writer, an ad film maker, a wrongly cast hero and just a pretty face together? You get Dekh Magar Pyar Se! The movie's production and marketing teams touted this as a romantic film - unfortunately romance was the one thing missing here! Throughout the film, I felt as if I was watching a stage show rather than an actual movie in a theater. For example, if one scene started at a certain location, it would remain there for a good 10 minutes without movement to other places or any breaks in between. You know how in stage shows they have one set for each scene and during break the set is changed and locations are swapped? Well that is exactly what this film felt like. From start to finish the director's laziness (or lack of creativity, you pick) is evident in the film. The sets are bad, and the props even worse. They are unable to draw a line between fantasy and reality. A rickshaw repair workshop, a barber shop, and the alleys of Lahore all have the cleanliness of a sanitized hospital. The tools in the rickshaw workshop hung on the walls in perfect order and the barber shop frequented by the lower middle class had a leather sofa/ couch!! Suffice it to say, the props master of this film had never set foot in either of the aforementioned venues.
The plot:
Good luck finding that needle in a haystack. Still, what I understood was that the story revolved around a rickshaw driver Sikki (Sikander Rizvi) who by fate picks up Annie (Humaima Malick) thinking that she is the bride to be of his uncle Allah Ditta (Irfan Khoosat). In the ride from Icchra Market to his uncle's workshop, he apparently falls in love with this girl who lo and behold is actually a con artist and swindles Allah Dittaout of 1 million rupees and disappears. In his quest to find her, he wanders aimlessly around the city and while parked next to an 'organic fruit stall' the rickshaw driver hears his horoscope on the radio which says that something new will happen in his life today! And guess what: he stumbles upon Annie right there and then. (I'm a firm believer in horoscopes from now on!) He grabs her, takes her to his workshop, and ties her hands together so she can't run away. To cut a very long and crappy story short, they both join forces, con a few people, and then she runs away with all the money, without realizing that the rickshaw driver has pulled a fast one on her instead and replaced the real money with fake notes. Finally after 438 days he returns to his workshop and while he is admiring his parked rickshaw, all of a sudden Annie appears in the back seat and tells says "Bhagao." I still don't know if she was actually there or the rickshaw driver was dreaming. The film thankfully ends here and we are treated to both the lead cast walking around London decked in their finest.
To the director, Asad Ul Haq: Making ad films that are of 30 to 60 seconds duration does not at all mean you are able to make a 120+ minute film dealing with emotions, romance, comedy etc.
My request to team members of Dekh Magar Pyar Se:
To the script writer, Saba Imtiaz: Choose another career, please!
To Sikander Rizvi: I know that showbiz runs in your blood, but so do restaurants. If you're good at one thing, doesn't mean you will be successful in the other as well.
To Humaima Malick: You were the saving grace of Bol, an otherwise torturous film. You stood out and shone bright. So seeing you do such roles just demean your potential as an actor.
To Irfan Khoosat Sahab: An illustrious career behind you should not be spoiled by such ventures.
To the rest of the cast and crew: I hope you were paid in advance!
Now before I close, I just want to point out that I am an avid movie fan and support Pakistani cinema 100%. But when worthless script writers, unqualified directors, and wanna be stars play with my sensibilities, it upsets me! Why do these people think that the Pakistani audience is that stupid? We are exposed to all sorts of international content as well as Indian films which already raises the bar pretty high. To beat them, you have to be better than them. If our producers and directors keep churning such stuff out, then the revival of Pakistani cinema will fail miserably. No one is asking you to make an Oscar worthy film, but at least don't think that the masses are stupid and will support you blindly just because your creative mind tells you otherwise.
To quote a common cinema goer "I would suggest that you watch a Tom and Jerrycartoon rather than this film," pretty much sums it up for me!
DISCLAIMER: This is not a paid review and I do not know any of the cast or crew members personally. In case I have overstepped my boundaries, I apologize. However, once you present yourself to the public in any manner, it becomes my right to voice my opinion, and in this instance I chose to exercise that right.
Article submitted by guest reviewer, Kamil Bhatti
@AsadUHaq failed miserably while putting up a high budget fashion show on big screen! #DMPS
Movie Name: Dekh Magar Pyaar Say
Release Date: August 14, 2015
Director: Asad Ul Haq
Review by: Momin Ali Munshi
Before a film starts, the opening credits play on screen which give the average cine goer an idea of who is behind the film and what to expect from a film. There is a reason why in these credits, the directors name is the last one to be shown before the film begins. The director is the captain of the ship and has a certain vision when it comes to the film and it is because of this that a film is usually referred to as a directors film.
Asad-Ul-Haq took all this quite literally and has taken the directors job to a completely different level in his film Dekh Magar Pyaar Say'. The reason I've termed this film as Asad-Ul-Haq's emporium is because well that's exactly what it is! The film is his universe, where everything is being sold by Asad ( he has even tagged everything with the DMPS logos). Its his creation where rules of the normal world don't apply and where everything works on Asad's command.
It would not be wrong to say that Dekh Magar Pyaar Say', though looking like a romantic film set in Lahore, in reality is a a complete fantasy film. Here I would like to bring in the famous television show Game of Thrones' which on first look seems like a historical show based on real historical figures. But a closer look reveals that although the show may have humans in it and its world may mimic the way things worked in our world but at the end of the day its a fantasy show where white walkers,dragons and what not exists. Similarly DMPS' is another kind of a fantasy. It is set in a world where a rickshaw-wallah of Lahore is dressed to the nines wearing HSY and has an accent that would put many to shame, a place where the Police Station looks more like a court room, where Las Vegas seems to have made its way to the streets of Lahore and again where rules of our world cease to exist.
Yes thats how Dekh Magar Pyaar Say' is in a nutshell.
Story
Sikki ( played by Sikander Rizvi) is a rickshaw driver who has been tasked to go pick up the woman who will be marrying Chacha ( played by Irfan Khoosat). Sikki brings back the bride to be Ainy ( played by Humaima Malick) and I cannot reveal more without spoiling the film. Then comes the big twist which is not that big and well the film moves at a painfully slow pace before finally ending on a very abrupt note.
The story of the film has been penned down by Sama Imtiaz who is author of the critically acclaimed novel "Karachi You're Killing Me". Although I haven't had a chance to read the novel but from all the praise around it I was expecting something great from the film's story. But sadly Saba leaves you disappointed as the story of the film is extremely weak. Moreover the way the story has been structured is another drawback. I cannot comment much without giving away the main surprise but lets say that the time taken to get to it is too long compared to what happens next. The film should have been more evenly paced for a better impact.
The dialogues are genuinely funny in bits and pieces. There is a particular scene between Irfan Khoosat at the police station which probably has the best dialogues in the film. Other than that there is not much to discuss. The dialogues seem to be borrowed from here there and well don't really leave much of an impact.
Acting
The Acting Department could have salvaged the films weak plot but sadly it was another downer. The star debutant Sikander Rizvi really needs to polish his acting skills. Yes he has got the looks and the hero like persona but his acting seems unnatural and forced at times. Furthermore his accent was another huge flaw if you take his character into account.
Humaima Malick as Geet, oh I mean Ainy, was strictly okay. The character seems to be heavily inspired from Kareena Kapoor's Geet from Jab We Met' but unlike the original character which was very likeable this one was annoying and over the top.Though Humaima is a great actress, as she proved in the film Bol' , but here except for a few scenes she does not have much to offer.
Aqdas Waseem's character is funny in bits but does not give the required comic relief.
The only saving grace here is Irfan Khoosat who showcases his acting skills in a role that seems to be tailor made for him. The comic timing he has is just brilliant and the scene with the police inspector is surely the highlight of the film.
Cameos by Humayun Saeed, Meera and HSY gave the film some much needed excitement.
Direction
The film was always pegged as a romantic film but having seen the film I can safely say that the only romance I saw was what you have already seen in the promotional posters and video clips. The weak interpersonal relation between the two leads is probably the most important reason why you dont really feel for them. We are supposed to believe that Sikander Rizvi's character has gone crazy for Humaima Malick's character just because the director envisioned it on paper. There is nothing to show for it! Needles to say the character development is missing.
Furthermore the film looks less of a film and more of a theatrical production due to the extended scenes and the sets. I kid you not, the entire film is basically some seven to eight scenes shot on seven to eight sets. Each scene is painfully long and you actually want to shout at the screen and say "Agay Bharo Bhai" ( Move ahead). But no, the director takes his sweet time for each scene. Also wasn't the film going to show us the beautiful city of Lahore? Well I have no clue which city they were planning to show because what I saw on screen was surely not Lahore. Yes, there were a few beautiful shots of Lahore but for most part the Lahore we saw was some glossy sets which Asad-Ul-Haq thought were a good representation of Lahore. The film could have easily been shot on real locations and that would have surely added to the film but no the director had something else in mind.Also Sikander's character did not have to be a rickshaw-walla and I have no clue why the director wanted him to be a rickshaw-walla.
But I must give it to Asad and the cinematographer here because the film is surely a visual treat. And when you add designer clothes by the couture king HSY and styling by the maestro Saima Rashid Bargfrede you are bound to have some exquisite frames. But for how long can one enjoy a scene with no soul in it? Had it been a fashion film or maybe an ad film the reviews would have been different. But considering it was a film well it surely disappoints.
Music
When the music of the film was first released we were super excited because finally we could see that music was getting its due importance. The album had about seven songs in total and seemed like the perfect music to compliment a romantic film. But well Mr Director employed his creativity again and does something different'.
Asad believes that the audience gets bored when a song plays for long so he wont let a song go over 90 seconds. Oh yes, the beloved Kala Doriya you saw as a teaser is exactly what you will see on screen because the director decided you wanted to just see that. Also the actors wont lip-sync to the songs because that's just too mainstream. So all the songs play in the background, even Kala Doriya, while the actors just dance to it.
The back ground score is magical at points but then at other points just falls flat. It does not have a consistency and has its ups and lows.
Some films come and become a hit; others have potential to become a hit but fall flat due to various reasons.
'Dekh Magar Pyaar Se' had the right men behind the project with the best intentions but their efforts failed to hit the bull's eye for unknown reasons. Let's categorize those reasons and try to find out what went wrong, and where.
To except something less than perfect from Asad ul Haq was like expecting a full toss from Wasim Akram; the man behind many advertisements has the eye of a perfectionist and that's why he has painted Lahore like Paris. The production team had most of the locations cleaned and most of the scenes were shot after midnight.
It was in the second half that the story moved in a direction. The soundtrack wasn't bad at all and just like most of the Bollywood films of modern era, all the songs were in the background. Talking of background takes us to the background score by Abbas Ali Khan was on a few occasions loud but when it wasn't, it was wonderful. It seemed as if the musician sat with the director, observed the scene and gave music rather than gave music without experiencing the scene.
It was Asad ul Haq's first film as a director so to go for a writer who doesn't exist in who's who was his error. Novelist Saba Imtiaz also should have told him that bhai jee I haven't written a script before but she didn't and we got to see Dekh Magar Pyaar Se. It seemed that the script was written after the shooting commenced because the first half seems inspired from Jab We Met and the second from 'Bunty Aur Bubbly'.
For those who want to watch the film for Humaima Mallick, think again! She is OK throughout the film; sometimes good sometimes bad but she does look breathtaking in some scenes. She continues to lower her bar with each film and needs to do mature roles than just deliver Main Tum Se Kuch Bhi Karwa Sakti Hoon!
Choosing an unknown actor like Sikandar Rizvi that too in the role of a rickshaw driver (seriously!!!) was also something the director could have avoided. They say that the best performance comes from an actor who is selected as per the requirement of the character and not by his genes and that proves correct in Dekh Magar Pyaar Se.
Despite being the grandson of Malika-e-Tarannum Noor Jehan and director Shaukat Hussain Rizvi and brother of Sonya Jehan, Sikandar Rizvi delivers a stale performance. The man behind a famous eatery in Karachi seems plastic because of his too-good' looks; it is he who takes down the entire ship with him. Over actor Irfan Khoosat was the other one who seemed to forget that he was acting in a film; not on stage although the length of the scenes were more suited to theatre.
I don't know how and why did the director of Asad ul Haq's caliber go for an actor (read model as in namoona) Aqdas Waseem ... what was worse that he even appeared in a scene as Crime Master Gogo! Now for all those who have watched Andaz Apna Apnaworship Gogo and there is no Crime Master Gogo other than Shakti Kapoor. Appearing as his character is a crime in itself and the writer-director must be asked ... Why? Aqdas is only good for 21-second commercials where there is no character and a person can be stupid and get away with it.
Amna Ilyas in her cameo was flawless because she didn't do anything at all ... to produce a flaw you have to do something, right? One thing is certain, she can't dance and act at the same time. Period.
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