Daily Times

Pakistan’s cinema is making slow progress towards revival. Many movies are released in last few years but only a few were able to get nod of approval from cinema goers. Last month all the movies released during the occasion of Eid-Ul-Fitr were unable to attract viewers and miserably failed to earn the revenue even in the absence of Indian movies which were banned for few weeks to give Pakistani movies uninterrupted attention of audience.

Shoaib Khan the director of upcoming movie Jackpot is confident that he has a storyline and cast who are capable of garnering the attention of audience and can give a successful movie at the box office.

In a guileless discussion about his upcoming movie Jackpot Shoaib Khan said that making a movie is always a dream for him. He tried making a movie some years ago but at that time the project did not materialise and instead of making a movie, he shifted his attentions towards drams. He made many dramas for various television channels but in those dramas he is always searching for his dream of making a movie. Two years ago he decided to make this movie and to differentiate his movie from his drama, he decided to work with a professional team. As a first step, Shoaib invited Babar Kashmiri to write a story for his movie. Babar shared a few storylines with him and he selected one of them and named it ‘Jackpot’. Jackpot as the name suggest is a movie about winning a big prize. Genre of this movie is comedy. Sanam Chaudhry and Noor Hassan are playing lead role in this movie which also has Javed Sheikh, Sana Fakhar, Tipu Shah, Faiza, Iftikhar Thakur and various other actors. Movie will see Meera, Afzal Khan aka John Rambo and a long list of actors in guest appearances. Shoaib is delighted that whole cast supported him wholeheartedly. He was particularly appreciative of Javed Sheikh who according to him was a humble and supportive person without any sign of arrogance. Javed Sahib according to Shoaib also guided him and his guidance help in improving the overall outlook of this movie.

Talking about the shooting of Jackpot, Shoaib Khan revealed that half of the movie is shot in Thailand and half in Pakistan. Highlighting about his shooting in Pakistan, Shoaib revealed that for shooting in Pakistan, he was looking for a spot which is similar to Thailand. His search for a suitable shooting spot took him to Balochistan and according to Shoaib he is surprised to see the natural beauty of Balochistan. Shoaib choose scenic location Kund Malir for shooting his film. Shoaib is of the thought that in future, he will shoot a complete movie in Balochistan.

Shoaib is thankful to Jackpot’s producer Khurram Riaz who supported him at all the steps. Shoaib was also thankful to his family who supported him diligently.

An interesting fact about this movie is that Sadya Khan, wife of Shoaib Khan is the stylist for this movie. She was assigned the task for dress designing and also for designing sets. Sadia while elaborating about his experience said that although she is Shoaib’s wife but on the set they are coworkers who were coordinating with each other with the aim of making Jackpot an interesting movie for the audience. Sadia revealed that initially she studied all the characters in details for months as she believes that if the outlook of character is good than that character will automatically get the limelight.

My favourite look in the film is that of Sana Fakhar which we give her in Lahore. We specially designed a palace for her. I gave glamorous looks to Faiza khan who is playing the role for Javed Sheikh’s secretary. On the other hand, when it comes to the looks of our main actress Sanam Chaudhry, I gave her mix blend looks.

Sadiya further revealed that my cast supported me and trusted me and I am delighted on the results we achieved. I am thankful to Shoaib who trusted me. Shoaib have only one demand from me that I take my work seriously and give my all. Onus is now on viewers to appreciate our efforts. I request my audience that if they find any loophole in my work, they should forgive us and support our industry. Making a movie in Pakistan is very difficult. We have worked very hard to complete this project. We all are very excited about Jackpot. Now that the movie is on the verge of getting released, I request audience to come in large number to watch this movie.

Sanam Chaudhry is the lead actress of this movie. Elaborating her role, Sanam said that she is playing a comic role for the first time. “In dramas, I mostly played intense role and these serious roles are my identity. Now in Jackpot I am coming in a completely different character and I am optimistic that my fans will appreciate me in this role.” Opined Sanam

Sanam is playing Chandni in Jackpot. Chandni is a girl who is living a happy life, she also successfully married to the guy she is in love but then after marriage her life went through some twists and turns. To know about these twists and turns, Chandni asked her fans to come to cinemas and watch her perform on the big screen for the first time.

Jackpot will be released across the length and breadth of Pakistan on July 06. Makers of Jackpot are optimistic about the success of this movie and now the success and failure of this venture in in the hands of cinema goers.

The writer is publicist. I wrote articles on various topics. I am an avid reader of books, newspapers and periodicals which help me in developing my own independent opinion about various national & international issues. I am an ardent sports follower @KhurramZiaKhan

Published in Daily Times, July 10^th 2018.