Pakistani cinema has been doing not too bad for the past few years. Stuff has been looking up for Lollywood and pretty much all of Pakistan has been excited and happy to see the resurgence of the film industry.

Khawateen o Huzraat, I’m afraid all of that is about to change, and it’s going to change for the worse.

With Lollywood coming up, yesteryear actors have found a space to make comebacks and chief among them in Moammar Rana.

But like after watching the trailer for his new movie ‘Azaadi’, we wish he wasn’t making a comeback, like at all. 

The movie is about the Kashmiri fight for freedom. From the trailer, it seems like Rana and Sonya Hussayn were lovers in London but then his character runs away. Sonya’s character, Zara, figures out he’s in Kashmir, but when she goes there to find him, she learns he’s become a mujahid for the cause of Kashmiri freedom.

Yes, on paper the context of the movie seems pretty normal. Nothing too horrible. Well, the storyline might be alright, but the Moammar’s acting is DEFINITELY not. 

He doesn’t deliver his dialogues, he exclusively shouts them out. Like constantly. For example, the phrase ‘Iss parcham ke saye tullay hum aik hai’ is totally normal and very patriotism inducing. However, when Muammar delivers that line, it sounds more like a threat than a milli naghma. 

Also, constantly throughout the movie, his expressions are the same; a confused crossover between anger and suffering from severe constipation. 

Another really annoying thing about this trailer is the way it’s edited. One second you’re seeing houses exploded and Indian soldiers die and then SUDDENLY out of NOWHERE you see Muammar and Sonya romancing each other on the streets of London and some random beach somewhere.

Now, I understand the movie focuses on the Kashmiri fight for freedom, so yes, there are bound to be weapons involved, but literally almost every other scene we see Moammar we see him wearing a bullet strip and carrying a massive gun around. It almost seems like he’s trying too hard to prove he’s a hero.

Like please, calm it down. 

Nadeem Baig is in this movie too, and honestly, he’s a breath of fresh air in this trailer. He’s honestly such a talented actor and it shows in the clips that feature in the trailer.

Just from what we can see from this trailer, it seems like a very typical storyline; ‘there’s love in the time of war’ type. Moammar Rana’s performance is nothing special, especially considering how in the past years we’ve seen some really great performances in Pakistani cinema. It seems like he’s stuck in the past, and what worked back then.

You can watch the trailer and then you can decide for yourself how you feel about it.