Raat Chali Hai Jhoom Ke

This film was quite stimulating, I think Faisal Rehman was especially good a portraying the complexity of the kind of character he was portraying - someone whose actions seem unkind, but with a nod to why the character behaved in this way. I enjoyed the film, despite allegations of a 'rip off' - I mean, we all get inspiration from something or the other. Everything has been done once. It is amazing that in 2000, in Pakistan this was the first Digital Film. 2000 is now a good five years away and it seems a good technological innovation at the time. Mehreen Jabbar acted in another film Beauty Parlour, which broke some boundary dealing with transvestites and in my view a stylish piece of work.

Brilliantly madcap portrayal of the city I live in. This film has a lot going for it. Great performances, terrific script, and tight plot that is a bit shaky in the beginning, but gets better and better as it goes along. I don't know how someone who hasn't lived in Karachi will react to it, maybe Mumbaiyyas will identify with it. But then again, lord knows when it will be available and how. Even I don't have a copy even though I want one. If you live in Pakistan, you will know what I mean, and if you do, be blissfully ignorant or else get here. At least in this place, you don't know what will happen next, just like you won't in the film. A must see for every Karachiite who has never crossed the Clifton Bridge.

The film is the only Pakistani film I have seen that attempts to portray the reality of modern-day urban life in that country. A study of urban alienation and the reality of the city of Karachi, the film is a homage to Scorsese's After Hours rather than a rip-off. In fact, Scorsese gets a thank you credit as well. A truly biting script captures the flavor of the spoken language and of politics in Pakistan, and the performances (esp of the lead actor and actress) are refreshingly free of the melodrama that characterize most films from the subcontinent. I saw the film with a mixed crowd of Pakistanis, Indians and Americans in New York and they all seemed to really enjoy the dark humor of the film. Apparently made on a shoestring budget by a first-time director, the technical quality of the film is still way above the usual quality of films from Pakistan's so-called "Lollywood." The aesthetics and sensibility of the film put it high on my list of recommended films. Definitely required viewing for anyone wishing to see Pakistan and Karachi in a new perspective!