Lost In Transition
Pakistanis will cherish warm memories of Yeh Dil Aapka Hua for a long time to come until Jawed Sheikh finds himself again, with his head on his shoulders and feet firmly planted on the ground.
Jawed Sheikh (JS) is lost. He is lost in the Bollywood glitz and glam, lost in vanity vans, magnanimous set designs, ornate props, magical lights, raunchy item numbers, air blowers working on yards of fabric, branded clothes and designer wear. So lost, he has forgotten how to make a good film.
Pakistanis will cherish warm memories of Yeh Dil Aapka Hua (YDAKH) for a long time to come until JS finds himself again, with his head on his shoulders and feet firmly planted on the ground.
With Khulay Aasmaan Kay Neechay (KAKN), the man seems to be on a high, or on some kind of trip and it probably happened when the success of YDAKH went straight to his head.
Until the delayed release of KAKN, we heard nothing but over the top praise for the film from JS and his entire cast. Maybe their contracts included heavy promotional activity. The eight crore ka budget was mentioned again and again by JS, as though it was a guarantee for a good film. Shot in Dubai, India, Australia and Pakistan, KAKN is simply painful to watch.
I was passionate about YDAKH and saw it more than once, hummed the songs, bought the tape and listened to it till the cassette tape gave up. It was that kind of a film, a family entertainer and a product that Pakistanis would proud take ownership to. But not KAKN.
It seemed that once JS had Rs8 crores in his pocket he went out with a shopping list for what he thought makes a super hit film. A ‘made in Pakistan version of a B-grade Bollywood flick. He shopped like crazy for the ingredients but messed up on the method of the recipe for a successful film.
The story of Dewan khandan drove us round and round in convoluted loops to give the most jarring of headaches. Weddings in fancy setting, song and dance, one big happy family sitting down for meals where the cinematographer would choose to do close ups and that also of men talking while the women stayed mum throughout the meal…what the heck was the table all dressed up for?
A confusion of relations living in a huge opulent house, very Star Plus in their lifestyle. Undying love for an orphan daughter (a humongous Sana) who was engaged to the family’s son (Saleem Sheikh) since childhood, but he grows up, forgets about his engagement and falls in love with Meera, who was overemphasised as ‘Indian Muslim’ (God only knows why) and that’s where the issue begins. Even in her unhealthy shade of brown, Meera is in good shape especially compared with Sana who is as big as the continent of Australia and all over the place.
Saleem Sheikh was out and out a bad choice for the male lead. He may be acceptable as a romantic lead on television but on 45mm he is a disaster. In how many more films do we have endure a revamped Saleem Sheikh. His efforts at trying to copy Waheed Murad, emotional voice et al, the spiky hairdo and branded clothes did nothing at all for him.
Humayun Saeed has screen presence and looks impressive even though he was badly dressed for his dance number. Was JS playing favourites on the sly?
Nadeem as Bare Papa was contrived throughout. They had altered his voice to add bass and he boomed inane dialogue through the film. JS seemed to be hugely impressed and influenced by Balaji Productions, the equivalant of a diya going off to symbolise negativity was the gas going off when Sana lit the gas stove. The plot was poor, the casting pathetic, and Ismail Tara’s lame attempts at adult humor were a far cry from the fresh crisp humour of YDAKH. What was the Goanese accent all about? Was he trying to be Shakti Kapoor or Reza Khan?
While YDAKH had songs that were catchy, with beautiful lyrics and compositions and the Indian singers did a great job.
In KAKN, the compositions were dead just like the late composer Amjad Bobby to whom Javed Sheikh dedicated the film. Sweet gesture for a friend, but does anyone remember Amjad Bobby’s music that he previously did for JS’s seven films other than YDAKH?
One could listen to Sukhwinder and Sonu Nigam beautifully singing some lousy lyrics on bad compositions. Not one song was ‘situational’ as the filmi people often say, they just appeared out of the blue with no solid connection with anything. One minute one would be emoting at home, the next minute gyrating in a desert or on a mountain top with about half-a-dozen extras. (three on one side and two on the other) So where was the Rs8 crore spent, hiring the studios in India, or vanity vans for the cast or buying the obnoxious item number? Or was the cast actually travelling by air as they breezed in an out of Australia and Japan in the film, appearing suddenly at the front door miles away on a different continent.
Safina Behroze and Deepak Perwani did a fine job with the costume, lots of rich bright colour, smart jackets for men and flowing chiffon and sequins for women.
Ineffectual dialogue with zero impact, the end dragged just like Badar Khalil’s voice over which did not suit her personality at all. What can be said about direction and performances when not one moment in the film tore at your heart. The cinema in immaculate condition by the way had barely three rows full. The audience is really smart and know exactly where to spend their money for real paisa vasool with Bollywood flicks being shown in our cinemas now.
Maybe JS couldn’t make a good film, but at least with KAKN he has proved that foreign locations, branded wear, six cameras and imported playback singers, and item numbers don’t make a box office hit. Maybe he should go back and review Pakistani films such as Armaan, Jaise Jaante Nahin, Aag, Inteha, Dewar Bhabi, Dauraha, Muthi Bhar Chawal, Naseeb Apna Apna, Sangdil and Yeh Dil Aapka Hua! — Fouzia Mapara
------------------------------------------------------------ --------------------
Second Opinion
The much-awaited and heavily advertised Khulay Aasman Kay Neechay (KAKN) finally saw the light of day, but didn’t quite elicit the response one had hoped it would. This, in spite of the fact that Jawed Sheikh tried to perfect every frame by drawing on beautiful locales, costumes and choreographed song sequences.
The basic problem with KAKN is that so much attention has been paid to everything else, not enough time seems to have been spent on the storyline. The result is that the plot lacks credibility.
The opening scenes introduce the numerous characters and highlight the close ties between Yunus Dewan and his wife (Nadeem and Badar Khalil), Sameer (Salim Sheikh) their son, Umeed (Sana) and Iqbal Dewan (Behroze), Yunus’s doting younger brother. But after being introduced to so many characters, if you expect to see the development of their personalities you are in for a disappointment — big time. Not only do most of the characters remain an enigma throughout the film (so you cannot relate to them emotionally), you can’t even relate to their actions with logic.
Take for instance the central theme of the film: Umeed’s fixation with her fiancé. Is Sameer not aware of her obsession? He has been studying in Australia for only two years, so how did he manage to remain oblivious of the fact that Umeed and the whole family was geared toward their marriage? And if he harboured no intentions of marrying his childhood fiancé, why did he not say so in the first place (rest assured family pride is of no concern to him), especially, as he was well aware that his cousin Nabeel (Humayun Saeed) is madly in love with her. And how in the world did Umeed manage to sustain a long-
