Daily Times

A Pakistani-Scottish man scribbles notes in his diary on gloomy evenings by a window that faces the lawn of Wedderburn Castle.

These notes hide the truth about his two sons, one of whom is in Ireland while the other is in Glasgow, the former living the life of a Disc Jockey and the latter of an affluent businessman, both oblivious to the fact that they were brought into the world by two different women.

One of the recurring themes of Zulfikar and Tasmina Sheikh’s projects has been the identity crisis that is faced specifically by Pakistanis that are living in the United Kingdom. In their debut film ‘Sacch’, this theme presents itself through the stories of children who have been adopted and therefore spend their entire lives trying to find the truth about their roots.

Javed Sheikh marries twice, once in Ireland and once in Glasgow. When the latter fails to conceive a child, Sheikh brings his former wife’s child to Glasgow and lies about having adopted the boy. However, a few years later, his second wife also conceives, but the first wife takes this baby away to Glasgow as a form of revenge. One son is thus brought up by Ayesha Sana and the other (Shayan) by Fazila Qazi, oblivious to their real backgrounds and roots. They grow up into Asad Zaman Khan and Humayun Ashraf respectively. They are brought back into each other’s lives by sheer luck and eventually, they fall in love with the same girl, Elysee (Elysee Sheikh). Elysee too, has spent her life with a single mother, and is afraid of love, a concept that she has come to associate with eventual grief and separation.

The movie then proceeds to show all the hurdles both brothers face while trying to find love as well as the sacrifices that they need to make and the viewer is left to observe how past experiences can continue to haunt people’s lives in the future as well. The truth “sach” constantly evades the brothers as they continue to look for it.

‘Sacch’ combines a family secret with a love triangle. While the family secret may keep the viewers curious, the love triangle may seem a bit clichéd. But this reaction will stem from the simplicity of the love story, not because it’s ludicrous. The dialogues of the film have been penned by Haseena Moin, and people who have watched her previous works know that Moin never delves into the nuances of love, but keeps it sweet, simple and fairy-tale like. Her heroines’ struggles are beyond this emotion. Similarly, Elysee of ‘Sacch’ is an aspiring architect, a career-oriented woman who dismisses the emotion of love as soon as soon as she feels it for the first time, choosing to focus on her career instead.

Javed Sheikh marries twice, once in Ireland and once in Glasgow. When the latter fails to conceive a child, Sheikh brings his former wife’s child to Glasgow and lies about having adopted the boy. However, a few years later, his second wife also conceives, but the first wife takes this baby away to Glasgow as a form of revenge

STRENGTHS — if one was to point out the strengths of the film, these would be the element of suspense throughout the story, the unpredictability of the love triangle, the locations and the music. The title song of ‘Sacch’ is enough to leave anyone speechless and with goosebumps, and the other songs are also carefully composed, unlike the songs of modern Pakistani films. The romantic exchanges between the hero and heroine are further beautified by the lovely landscapes of Glasgow that provide an idyllic backdrop to the couple’s story. Acting wise, Asad Zaman Khan proves himself the strongest with his graceful looks and soft dialogue-delivery, his sexiness becoming all the more visible in close-up scenes. Zaman’s well-built physique also complements the young, fresh and beautiful heroine, Elysee Sheikh.

WEAKNESSES — although big names such as Ayesha Sana, Fazila Qazi, Uzma Gillani, Javed Sheikh, Noman Masood, Tasmina Sheikh and Zufikar Sheikh have very few dialogues in the film, which seems a little unjust, their very presence compensates for this shortcoming. A small yet visible flaw in the direction is that when time moves on, it is only Javed Sheikh whose gray hair and look exude old-age. His wife and mother’s appearances remain the same.

CONCLUSION — overall, ‘Sacch’ is a family film with no sexist jokes or abusive language. An item song does run in the film, but it justifies its place in the narrative as a university event’s performance. The movie also does not present the heroine as someone who is available for every other man. The heroine’s austerity as a scholar remains intact and her experience does not lead to any careless decisions.

Hum Films’ ‘Sacch’ is a soft, simple and sweet film which will provide a temporary relief to Pakistanis from the chaos that has disturbed the peace of the country.

The writer is a freelance journalist and can be reached at m.ali_aquarius85@yahoo.com. He Tweets at @MuhammadAli_DT