Mubarak Ho … Halaat Kharab hogaye Shakeel Bhai.. And this very one line ,Ladies and gentlemen , Sets the tone for a hilarious ride called Na Maloom Afraad!
Before I may begin let’s get one thing Straight, Na Maloom afraad is NOT inspired / Copied from Hera Pheeri, Yes the idea is similar. i.e 3 broke men coming together to hatch a plan on how to get rich quickly. But that’s about it. Na Maloom Afraad is very Pakistani, as much as it could get! And to further add as much as karachite it could get!
Naa Maloom Afraad doesn’t promise to be different. It packs in ample laughs, illogical situations, rib-tickling sequences and witty one-liners in those 2.30 hours. In fact, writer-director Nabeel Qureshi borrows everything available on the shelf and comes up with a plot that may sound silly to a few, but nonetheless succeeds in its endeavor of making people laugh.
Naa Maloom Afraad is a story of 3 Halaat kay maray , mazloom Pakistani souls, Moon (Mohsin Abbas Haider) , Farhan( Fahad Mutafa), & Shakeel bhai (Javed Sheikh) , bought together by fate . In pursuit of their dreams. They only have one aim,to get rich as quick as possible. Together, they hatch an interesting plan and wait for the moment to execute it and during their quest,they find themselves in one big mess. Were they able to get it accomplished? Were they able to overcome all the obstacle in their path and get what they wanted? To answer that ,You would have to watch the movie..
Na maloom Afraad is based on a very interesting story line. An original Pakistani story which Is based on something every Pakistani could relate to.at the same time. It’s like a breath of fresh air. I remember how much I had stressed that we need to make movies for everyone. Some masla here and there. Some nice songs. Some romance and a good story line. For some odd reasons our movies were either way too “ Vey Gujra” or way too serious! Mein hoon shahid Afridi did the trick and Na maloom Afraad is another movie that falls in to the same genre. Like the famous dialogue, Filmein sirf 3 cheezon ki waja say chalti hain… “ Entertaiment , Entertaiment, Entertainment” and Na Maloom Afraad is filled with it.
NMA Starts really well. With straight out of life characters and incidents. Its commending to see how the writer duo (Nabeel Qureshi & Fizza Ali Meerza) haven’t gotten into showing off the intellectual side by showing oh I know so much!! Look at it! .. Instead they have focused on the basics and what comes out is a really well shaped movie.
To be honest NMA comes as a surprise . Even the pre-polls showed 021 as the 1st choice for the movie goers to watch this festive season. However NMA has taken everyone by surprise
It will be unfair if we don’t applaud the efforts of the Cinematographer (Rana Kamran) , Yes you can see Nabeel’s input in it, however Na Maloom Afraad is a real showcase of Karachi, the streets, the road side bun kabab stall, chaat and gola ganda at dhora jee, dhaabay ki chai, strikes, jalao gherao. The famous locales of Saddar and the wonderful old architecture of Karachi has been shot so beautifully that you can’t stop yourself falling in love with this amazing city! I remember I went to Newyork right after I had seen Kal ho na ho…. That’s the power of great cinematography and trust me after watching NMA, you would want to see Karachi! The real Karachi!
Nabeel Questhi’s writing and direction are aimed at the masses. He scores brownie points as a director however as a writer, he could’ve packed in more gags in the 1st half. The dialogues are amazing and have been taken straight out of life, something which everyone can relate to, as I mentioned before.. The movie is very very Pakistani !
Shani & Kami ,Vicky Haider’s music is of the popular genre. “Darbaar “Reminds you of “Mein Pershan” from Ishq Zaday, “Purr “Purr” sung by Sajjad Ali is good. However the pick of the lot has to been billi, which is rightly aimed at the masses and has the right feel to it.The tracks alsohelps in uplifting the pace of the movie which was really needed towards end.
Naa Maloom Afraad belongs to Fahad Mustafa and Mohsin Haider from Scene A to Z. Infact to be honest Fahad Mustafa doesn’t try any heroics and remains honest to the character, there are times when the actor takes a back seat and let the debutant Mohsin Haider do the talking and that is the real strength of the movie. Mohsin Haider comes as a surprise package, his comic timings is awesome and its really heartening to see such an amazing talent debut in a grand way. In fact some of the best one liners are delivered by Mohsin and how well he has done that. Haider is, for sure the Star of the future. The lad can act! Sing as well as Dance. Just need to brush up on his looks and hair style. Some tweaks here and there and we will have the super star! That’s exactly how super stars are created!
Javed Sheikh Delivers are towering performance. Very articulate and to the point. In fact it’s his experience and maturity that’s fills the gaps and any short coming! The chemistry between all 3 of them is amazing and it shows
Salman Shahid (gogi) as the main villain is great. In fact his performance will be remembered for a long time! Watch out for his dialogues!
The movie is boosted with many small cameos. However the one that stands tall amongst the rest is Saleem Mairaj’s scene. , which is for sure going to bring the house down! Take a bow Saleem Mairaj!
Urwa Hocane (Naina) as the leading lady doesn’t get much scope,at the same time. She is amongst the weakest link of the movie. It’s been righty said that movies are real tester and it really shows. Urwa falls flat. I guess the movie did not have any scope for the mazloom rooti dhoti woman and hence she couldn’t keep up to it.
The new comer Kubra Khan (as hina Merchant) is a decent addition. However is hardly there and also needs to brush up on her urdu skills! Mehwish Hayat’s Track is not interesting, there wasn’t any need for her induction in the story. The movie could have done much better with her item song only!
Any shortcomings? Yes, The Screen Play could have been much tighter, especially in the 1st half, the movie does drag in the beginning and few minutes in the 2nd half. However picks up right after the item number, The movie should have been trimmed at least by 30-45 minutes to keep it pace going!, however in all honesty, it will take some time before our movies can get that. We can see the rawness which was bound to happen as this is a fresh product with almost zero experience of prior Film Making. We could see reminisce of Pakistani Dramas and that’s what our directors and story writers need to learn. How to disconnect themselves from the Drama Mode!
On the whole Naa Maloom Afraad has ample masala to keep its target audience, the masses mainly — more than happy. At the box-office, the film has opened to a thunderous response, the movie has already surpassed the business of BANG BANG in Pakistani theatres, a total Paisa Wasool Flick aimed for the masses. Has all it takes to attain the ‘Hit’ status due to the huge, record-breaking initial from the movie goers
Written by Faraz
