Nadeem Beyg’s newest Lollywood genius ‘Punjab Nahi Jaungi’ turned out to be a pleasant surprise. The film’s story revolves around Fawad Khagga (Humayun Saeed), a feudal, who has just returned from Lahore after completing his Masters in Political Science. As it is with feudals, who are not encouraged to study long and hard as they always have their ancestor’s land and farming to fall back on, Fawad Khagga is revered and lauded when he returns home with a degree in his hand. His successful homecoming is celebrated wild and with much fanfare and festivity. As it is with every household after their sons get degrees and are now looking after their family’s empire, Fawad’s mother Firdaus Khagga (Saba Hameed) wants to see him settled and married. Fawad has similar interests but wants a girl of his choice; one he will fall in love with only and eventually will make her his bride. His cousin Durdana (Urwa Hocane) has eyes for him and declares her love for him repeatedly but Fawad turns her down. So, his mother introduces him to his cousin, Amal Dastoor Ahmed (Mehwish Hayat) who has just returned from London after finishing her studies. In fact, it is Fawad’s father Jawad Khagga (Wasim Abbas) who sends Fawad, Amal Dastoor Ahmed’s picture. The spoilt Faisalabad feudal falls head over heels in love with her, taken in by Amal’s beauty. However, the family realises that it is unfair to get Fawad’s expectations soaring, as they still haven’t asked Amal if she would be willing to marry their son. After seeking blessings from their family’s elder Bebo Ji (Navid Shahzad), the task of asking Amal for her consent is given to Fawad’s grandfather Mahtab Khagga (Sohail Ahmed). Mahtab Khagga takes Amal out for a walk and offers her Fawad’s proposal, which Amal refuses on the spot. The family is heartbroken and break the news to Fawad who curses his luck but at the same time vows to convince Amal and promises himself that he would ultimately make her his wife. As fate has it, Amal is already in a relationship with Wasay (Azfar Rehman) and the two lovebirds have decided to tie the knot soon. Amal also has to face a lot of backlash and negativity from her family who criticises her for refusing Fawad’s proposal. So does Amal eventually say “yes”? What happens to Durdana then? And how successfully does the Faisalabad-based feudal keep the Londoner happy? How important a role does their family play in bringing them together? Watch the film to find out. What takes you off guard and catches your interest to begin with is the film’s humour and the relatable dialogues. The casting of the film is perfect when put together, the Khagga family and the rest of their relatives and friends, seem so convincing, it’s unbelievable. The humour stands out and brings the audience together in their loud applause, whistles and laughter. It is indeed difficult to make people laugh and the cast does that successfully. Just the script is never enough if not executed affectively. Humayun Saeed is flawless and is convincing as the stubborn Faisalabad feudal. His village accent and acting prowess is commendable. He has toned down immensely and makes you love and hate him at the same time. Saeed is indeed the star of the film. Saeed must have undergone a lot of training and hard work because I personally am friends with many Faisalabad feudals who speak and think exactly how Saeed demonstrated. Brilliantly done! Another person who stood out after Saeed was Urwa Hocane. I have never doubted Hocane’s acting skills and have always been a fan, but with ‘Punjab Nahi Jaungi’, Hocane proves her mettle on the big screen too. Her role in the film is short but integral and Hocane delivers it with command and aplomb. She is enticing and breathtaking as the villainess and holds her own throughout her screen presence. She looks utterly beautiful as well. Ahmed Ali Butt as Shafique Ahmed (Fawad’s best friend) is effortlessly funny and adds spark to the film. Sohail Ahmed, Saba Hameed and Navid Shahzad also breathe life into the film. They are simply amazing and relatable. Pakistani films’ songs are mostly forgettable and not that fun to listen to repeatedly but with ‘Punjab Nahi Jaungi’, the music album is a hit hit wonder. I still cannot get over “Ae dil” which is the love anthem of the year. Shafqat Amanat Ali’s “Tere naal” is another beautiful track and I’m glad the legendary singer has been utilised well with it. The track has been shot beautifully and reminds you sometimes of “Bahara” from ‘I Hate Love Stories’ and “Sajde kiye hain laakhon” from ‘Khatta Meetha’. The third track that I also have on repeat is “Raat Ka Nasha” that guest stars the gorgeous Ushna Shah. From these three tracks also, I believe Sheraz Uppal is the star of the music album. His vocals in “Ae dil” are simply hypnotic. These three tracks you will not get enough of. I feel that the strongest part of the film is its storyline. As with all Pakistani films, which have their stories inspired from Bollywood or Hollywood films, and those that are original are just not good enough, ‘Punjab Nahi Jaungi’ is so well written and puts our everyday lives and feelings on screen, that one feels like giving Khalilur Rehman Qamar a standing ovation couple with another for Nadeem Beyg who executed all this on the big screen with power! It is no surprise that ‘Punjab Nahi Jaungi’ is breaking records not just in Pakistan, but all over the world. On all three holidays of Eid, the cinemas all over Pakistan were packed. I could not even get a single seat in Lahore and the tickets were sold out two days prior before each show in each cinema house. That makes it five shows in each cinema in one single day only! I had to call my cinema owner friends to help me get at least two seats if not more. My friend, who lives in Mississauga, Canada, called me up asking if I could help her get two seats for the show because they were sold out over there as well. I haven’t laughed so hard in my life or got teary eyed or contemplative or gotten entertained along with how a film’s story unravels in a long time. ‘Punjab Nahi Jaungi’ puts Pakistani cinema back on the map… again! Published in Daily Times, September 27th 2017.