The much awaited and the most anticipated Pakistani movie of this year, is finally in cinemas. I am no movie critic but will give you what this movie made me feel (as a general audience) and what I loved about it WITHOUT ANY SPOILERS! (So read on..)

I was sold at the fact that its a Mehreen Jabbar film. I mean, really there was no reason why I would miss it after knowing that. Her body of work is amazing and speaks for itself. She makes the most amazing Pakistani dramas like Jackson Heights, Doraha, Mera Naam Yusuf Hai to name just a few. But I became a HUGE fan of her work, after I watched her movie Ramchand Pakistani (if you have not watched it, I highly recommend it!)

The story of Dobara Phir Se revolves around a character of a divorced Pakistani woman based in New York City and her second chance of living a happy life… her confusions, guilt and feelings around it.

Here are a few things that I really liked about the movie..

The ‘Performance’ Factor:

Pakistani actors are powerhouses of talent! The movie has a huge star cast.. including Adeel Hussain, Sanam Saaed, Hareem Farooq, Ali Kazmi & Atiqa Odho in the lead.. with a supporting cast that is as talented including the adorable child actor Musa Khan. That’s a pretty strong line up of actors..and trust me, no one will disappoint you with their acting. I was specifically blown away by Adeel’s and Hareem’s performances.

The ‘Relatable’ Factor :

Dobara Phir Se, is a story of people you can relate to.. their characters are close to real life.  Each character has a story that we can identify with… be it the woman who is suffering in a painful marriage… or the guy who has a reputation of being a flirt…. or be it the sweet couple who are your best friends and anchor in life…

The ‘Subtle’ Story Telling:

The story is well woven and brings up the ideas about life and relationships in a very subtle way. The movie provokes thinking about the issues like people suffering in an unhealthy marriage or divorce or restarting their lives again….. in an ingenious way, without in- your- face lectures about it (though it had a few, in your face kinda advertising 😉 )

Being Happy Yourself Is The Most Important Thing:

The movie revolves around a woman, who has a child and is suffering in a marriage that is dragging. Although she has tried her best to save the marriage and yet it has just deteriorated over time. The movie gives a subtle message that its okay to move on.. to start a new life.. rather than being miserable and unhappy… It is very important, specially for women in our society, who suffer in marriages because of the social pressures and the fear of the future after the divorce.. It highlights that

Your ‘own’ happiness is the most important thing because if you are not happy yourself, you will NOT be able to keep people around you happy! 

And I couldn’t agree more!

 

The Cinematography and Music

Again, I am not qualified enough to talk about the technicalities of it.. but as a viewer and an amateur photographer, I throughly enjoyed the way it is shot. The frames were absolutely stunning and brilliant! The overall look and feel of the movie was very much comparable to or even better than a lot of Bollywood movies.

The music is very nice as well, but what worked for me was how it is weaved into the story. The songs are very aptly placed in the movie, either being a performance on stage or a song playing in the car (which everyone is singing along), unlike the all of a sudden transformation of the hero/heroine into brilliant singers!

The Pakistani Element

Having grown up in Karachi and living outside of Pakistan now, it was an absolute delight to watch the Pakistani elements in the movie.. like

• the sights and sound of Karachi!!! (YASS!),
• the desi wedding fun and filling chuhara (dried dates) bags as part of wedding preps  AND
• the timeline tags (like 3 months later) written in Urdu!

the very relatable factor again..

MY VERDICT:

Dobara Phir Se, is a feel good.. kind of movie. Though, at a few places I thought the story was dragged a little or had a few script weaknesses or was a little predicable.. BUT overall its a good movie. A breath of fresh air for Pakistani Cinema and something as a Pakistani, I am very proud of! I would say 4/5 stars. I can watch it, Dobara Phir Se!