Review co-authored by Arslan Athar and Iman Zia.
‘Laal Kabootar’ is all set to release nationwide on the 22nd of March. The film promises to be a depiction of the ‘underbelly of Karachi’ as well as being a gripping crime mystery. Just going by the film’s trailer, the grit and the grime of Karachi was being showcased for all to see and this was an interesting prospect given that this is a side hardly highlighted in our entertainment industry. In an exclusive preview, the ShowSha team saw ‘Laal Kabootar’ and were left spellbound. Ahmed Ali Akbar and Mansha Pasha give their best performances to date in a thrilling cat and mouse chase that is just as dark as it is mesmerising; the film blazons tremendous storytelling, unlike anything we’ve seen before in Lollywood. ‘Laal Kabootar’ is brilliant and is the exact dollop of inspiration we need to craft our own industry now that things with India aren’t looking too great.
Warning: Spoilers Ahead
The movie revolves around two characters, Adeel (Ahmed Ali Akbar) and Aliya (Mansha Pasha). They both belong to two very different worlds, Adeel is not economically too well off and works as a taxi driver, whereas Aliya is better off and is definitely in a position of privilege. Aliya’s husband is shot dead right in front of her after he published a news article about Karachi’s land mafia; a targeted killing. Aliya becomes obsessed with finding the killer but is received with a lazy police system. Adeel makes a living by driving for a car-riding app. He needs a large sum of money to make a shift to Dubai, and he turns to the streets of Karachi for help by staging heists in his car. It is a twist of fate that these two characters meet, and the circumstances, as they play out, result in their partnership. It’s an odd character collision – and marks a step out of the usual Lollywood masala tropes that are so prevalent – there is hardly any romance in the film (barely a scratch).
‘Laal Kabootar’ exceeded our expectations, and there are a few noteworthy aspects that gave the film wings.
Firstly, we cannot talk about this film without mentioning the cinematography. The shots that feature in the movie are just gorgeous. The filmmakers did not shy away from showing the ugly and the messy. ‘Laal Kabootar’ does not create any facade of glamour, it shows Adeel’s life in all its dusty glory. Even the shots of Karachi, in general, were mesmerizing.
Also, the movie had an intentional grainy feel to it. The post-editing process created a grey, almost sombre feeling to the scenes, and this was an effect that ran on until the very end of the film. The sombre tone of the film lies not just in the aesthetics, but within the rugged, unique, city-thrumming music (Taha Malik at his best), that had a ‘Gangs Of Wasseypur’ -esque glow about them. The music never trumped the overarching film, and at best was the quintessential example of how an OST can help embellish a movie that already sparkles on its own. Taha truly entrenched the darkness emoted in ‘Laal Kabootar’s’ script with candy-colour; his raw, brilliantly crude score is a dollop of mastery.
Ahmed Ali Akbar breathes life into the character of Adeel. He is a conflicted man who’s juggling a lot in his personal life, yet he still has a heart of gold and is incredibly compassionate and loving. It seems, initially, that he’s a greedy man that is slowly losing touch with Karachi, however that changes as the film progresses, and this is a pretty subtle transformation. You realize towards the end how much the character has changed. While Adeel and Aliya were meant to be the leads, there was one character that definitely left us heartbroken.
The Police Inspector is a character that you grow to feel for in this film. His initial introduction is pretty negative. His interactions with Aliya are rude and demeaning. However, as you follow this character, you see him in a whole new light around his young daughter- he’s a loving, active father. This character has the unique ability to live in two completely different worlds, worlds that collide at one point in the film. When this happens, the previously staunch, crude policeman becomes so softer- you, as the audience, begin to have sympathy for him.
The plot of the film was well thought out, with all actors involved given enough screen presence and leeway to emote their best as their characters gnawed their way through all the mess they were in; be it with Adeel constantly trying to just leave Karachi for good or Aliya’s daily struggles in a world full of her demons – the story’s depth and twists and turns is what gives Laal Kabootar the edge because, well we aren’t used to seeing films with actual stories emerge from the industry.
While there were many things that made the film great, there were still some things about it that bothered us.
For starters, while the cinematography was GORGEOUS, it seemed like the filmmakers were relying on it a bit too much. While the film was beautifully shot, the jaw-dropping aesthetic of the film almost distracted away from the story. We would find ourselves going gaga over how the film looked, rather than the film itself.
We talked about how some of the characters of the film really stood out, however, we haven’t spoken about Mansha Pasha’s character, Aliya. Aliya left a little something to be desired. The introduction of the character was tragic, however, moving forward, the feeling of sympathy does not remain. She’s definitely very sure of herself and knows what she wants, she isn’t afraid and she’s very determined. Aliya is a character that develops a bit in the start but stays stagnant throughout the rest of the story. Also, at the end of the film, Adeel’s story is ended up nicely, however, we see very little of Aliya, leaving a little something to desire for the viewer.
There were tedious moments where the film tended to drag on, simply because it was ‘fitting’ for the song playing in the background as part of the score; it almost felt like particular scenes were deliberately re-edited to fit the song in post-production. These small cracks did cause hindrance in flow and pace because they stretched a moment in the film that could have easily been filled with the progression of the plot.
Overall, ‘Laal Kabootar’ is brilliant and is the exact dollop of inspiration we need to craft our own industry now that things with India aren’t looking too great.
Ahmed Ali Akbar is the winner in this film – he truly shines and has outdone himself. His craft manages to invoke such empathy for his character Adeel, it’s both remarkable and wonderful seeing an actor really coruscate (a far cry from ‘Parchi‘ where he was nothing short of an ornament piece). ‘Laal Kabootar’ is an important stepping stone to peddling Lollywood, now that things on the border are incredibly rancid. It’s proven that we have what it takes if we focus on giving the audience not what it craves, but what it needs; we just need that little spark to truly ignite a tenacious process of refining talent and manifesting it in the best way we can.
Here’s the trailer.