Daily Times

KARACHI: One of the most highly-anticipated movies of the year, ‘Na Maloom Afraad 2’, launched its trailer at an event that was attended by the star-studded cast as well as select members of the media.

The movie is going to be releasing later this year, on Eidul Azha, and has been produced by Filmwala Productions and Excellency Films.

The movie has been directed by Nabeel Qureshi and the script has been written by Fizza A Meerza along with Nabeel Qureshi. The duo had earlier helmed hits like ‘Na Maloom Afraad’ and ‘Actor In Law’. Urdu1 has stepped in as TV media partner and the movie’s marketing and distribution will be handled by Urdu1 Pictures and Filmwala Pictures.

As the sequel to 2014’s ‘Na Maloom Afraad’, ‘Na Maloom Afraad 2’ will bring back the montage of actors that were featured in the first part. Fahad Mustafa, Javed Sheikh, Mohsin Abbas Haider and Urwa Hocane will be seen together again and joining them will be Hania Amir. The movie has been shot in Cape Town and Karachi and the plot will be moving forward by three years, narrating the story how the trio of ‘Na Maloom Afraad’ meets again in Cape Town and the adventures that then follow. The movie’s duration will be of two hours and 10 minutes.

“Fizza and I had always known that we would want to make a sequel to the first ‘Na Maloom Afraad’,” reveals the movie’s director and co-scriptwriter Qureshi, “but we chose to take a break with ‘Actor-In-Law’ last year which was a completely different film. Now, with ‘Na Maloom Afraad 2’, we have come back with the original caste but with a new concept. It’s a very interesting story with a lot of satire and comedy that we hope will appeal to audiences.”

Na Maloom Afraad 2’s producer and co-scriptwriter Meerza adds, “While writing the sequel we never really referred to the first part and yet, when the script was completed, everything gelled in magically. Viewers will be able to draw connections with the first story and they will enjoy seeing Javed Sheikh, Mohsin Abbas Haider and Fahad Mustafa together again. The actors slipped into their roles with complete ease and their chemistry is fascinating. Also, we made the decision to shoot in an international locale not just because it fit well into our storyline but also because it gave our cast and crew the chance to gain exposure to a professional environment on a global level.”

Excellency Films has been formed with the vision to produce a consistent stream of high quality Pakistani films with the long-term vision of increasing the supply of quality commercial content to support the cinema and film industry of Pakistan.

Urdu1 has earlier also worked with the team for last year’s ‘Actor-In-Law’. Urdu1 Pictures General Manager Nina Kashif, says, “‘Actor-In-Law’ did incredibly well and now, we have high hopes for ‘Na Maloom Afraad 2’. The movie packs in all the right ingredients for a fun-filled family entertainer and we consider it our gift for Eidul Azha for local as well as international audiences. We’re sure it’s going to tickle their funny bones!”

Published in Daily Times, June 25th, 2017.