One of the two films set to release today on Eid-ul-Fitr, the Mehwish Hayat, Zara Noor Abbas, Asad Siddiqui, and Azfar Rehman starrer Chhalawa premiered in a private screening on Sunday night at Nueplex Cinemas, Karachi to high hopes.
However, within 15 minutes of the screening, all true optimism tied to the film died a horrid death.
From the acting to the storyline, nothing was memorable, and if anything, it soon took over a nightmarish form where the cringe factor just wouldn’t stop. Do you like jokes that you can’t even laugh at? Or how about loopholes which make no sense? Well, you’ll find them all in this film!
Also read: Azfar Rehman shares how trolls affected his family
What made Chhalawa two hours of torture we couldn’t wait to end?
Here’s the lowdown…
The Acting
Starring Mehwish Hayat, the only expectation we had was that the film would actually have a strong acting presence from her if nothing else. However, the film soon proved even a bravura actress like her can’t do anything if the direction is so weak. Similarly, the male lead of the film, Azfar Rehman, was all over the place due to direction despite trying to warm up to the camera with his acting.
The only one who managed to shine through from the cast was Zara Noor Abbas, whose acting was better than the rest and had her comic timings intact. We wish she had gotten a better film to make her debut with, to be honest.
The Direction
If there’s one thing we’ve learned from the direction of Lahore Se Aagey and its predecessor is that Wajahat Rauf’s films don’t have plotlines that connect, and it held true for Chhalawa as well. In one scene you could be looking for directions and the next you could be in the middle of nowhere dancing in an item song! We can’t even make this up – it’s an actual scene in the film!
The Locations
At least for the filmmaker’s first two films, the picturesque locations were still fun to watch on the big screen. However, this one in their attempt to make it look like authentic Punjabi landscapes failed to impress. There are moments where you’ll be bored out of your mind looking at randomly vibrant frames, one after another.
The Fight Sequence
Firstly, thank God there’s just one major fight sequence and not more. But, then again, even this didn’t need to be there. There was absolutely no need to have a typical sibling rivalry in the film, but alas! It has to be there, and it had to be that cringeworthy.
The Humour
The film really REALLY really needed to have someone else on the script than Yasir Hussain. His jokes in real life are more often a miss than a hit, so what were we expecting in the film? He’s a bright actor and there’s no doubt there, but clearly writing humorous scripts for Wajahat Rauf has never done him any favour. This was yet another addition to bad humour, bad writing, and even worse execution of a script.
Come on, do better!
DivaOnline Rating: 1.5/5 Stars