Mehreen Jabbar’s Ramchand Pakistani is all set to win hearts and minds and has given the PM food for thought!

After getting recognition first in New York at Robert De Niro’s Tribeca Film Festival and winning an award at the Osian Film Festival in India, Mehreen Jabbar’s tour de force Ramchand Pakistani is all set for an August 1 release in both Pakistan and India. The premieres for the film have happened in Karachi, Lahore and Islamabad and the claps have thundered along with accolades. It is a triumph, a film that tugs gently at the heart strings to drive a strong message home with a lot of wit and gutsy performances and a fabulous music score that is a must buy for any lover of folk and eastern classical music. PM Yousuf Raza Gilani was also suitably impressed. He spoke about human rights and the necessity of the humane treatment of prisoners in our jails and also on the other side of the border, saying that jails should aim at reforming prisoners as opposed to punishing them.
It seems that Ramchand Pakistani is Pakistan’s Taare Zameen Par. Both feature child stars in prominent roles and both have resulted in sending a message out that inspires social action, one for education and the other for the treatment of prisoners in jails. Here’s hoping that Pakistani cinema takes on the realistic flavour of both Ramchand Pakistani and Khuda Kay Liye as opposed to the nightmarish fluff of the recently released Khulay Aasman Kay Neechay. Fluff needs to be executed well and no Pakistani filmmaker has managed to do that in recent history except Syed Noor with Choorian. As for Ramchand Pakistani, the film is all heart with a mind, just like a Mehreen Jabbar play. Here’s to the budding director who has made us proud of Pakistani cinema

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