ARTICLE
Or is it the production?
With such bright, harsh lighting and a picture perfect
backdrop, I think it's safe to say that the movie is most
likely not rooted in reality at all — it's too colourful,
too pristine, and most importantly, we fail to see how
it reflects the story's pathos.Farhat Ishtiaq's novel of
the same name, which Bin Roye is based on, is heartwrenching and intense. What organic value does all this
naach gana bring to the plot? Does it propel the story forward in any way whatsoever?This is particularly a shame
because that's the one thing our cinema has going for
it — the fact that our
movies and television
shows are relatable
and raw, not unrealistic like everyone at
an event bursts into
the same dance routine knowing exactly
what to do.It's also
no secret that the film
went through its fair
share of obstacles:
Bin Roye is co-directed by Momina Duraid
and Shehzad Kashmiri, the latter having
stepped in after the
film's original director
bowed out. Perhaps,
this hodgepodge of
direction is what led
the otherwise talented stars astray.Another thing that's really irking me
is: Why is the charming Adeel Hussain wearing a bile
coloured kurta and a vest made out of Farah Talib Aziz
lawn?
On-screen chemistry doesn't make it to the finish line
Let's be real; Humayun and Mahira are no SRK and
Kajol but you'd expect them to at least be Shahid and
Kareena but no, apparently that's having really high expectations too!Tere Bin Jeena is meant to be a romantic
number but where's the spark? You can tell that they're
trying hard individually, but it's not coming together for
some reason — Saeed didn't look like such a deer in
the headlights in his scenes with Armeena Rana Khan.
In fact, when you see the two interacting in the trailer,
it's quite adorable but that same sentiment is not ignited by him and Mahira,Humsafar was the mammoth
success it was mostly because the audience loved the
on-screen connection between Mahira and her co-star
Fawad Khan. She has said in the past that the reason
their chemistry came off as genuine was because she
was quite comfortable around him.Even though Sadqay
Tumharay dropped the ball, her chemistry with Adnan
Malik was still admired -- the two are known to be close
friends off screen. Maybe the comfort level, or lack
thereof, with her Bin Roye co-stars hindered her perfor-
mance.The duo fails to achieve an undeniable intimacy
on screen and it's apparent. I mean, what's with this
awkward hand touching scene? In the scene in question, Humayun Saeed's character raises his hand in a
movement that looks pretty aggressive, as if he's about
to hit Mahira — we cringe, but then seconds later it's
turned into a romantic moment!I wasn't a fan of the lyrics
or the music composition either — it sounds haphazard.
Somehow, they almost managed to make Rahat Fateh
Ali Khan sound average and out of place. Now, that's
an accomplishment!I can overlook bad music production but how
much elbow
room must
we
give
them when
it's meant to
be a "musicdriven venture"? That
being said,
I remember
being excited to watch
the movie
when I first
saw
the
trailer because I was
impressed
at how well
Humayun
was
presented as his character, Irtaza. There were glimpses of
promise then, so who knows, the movie could go either
way.This seems to be the year of commercial cinema
anyway — I think Pakistanis have seen enough of espionage themed movies.Bin Roye is slated for an Eid-ul-Fitr
release. I'm still contemplating whether I want to spend
my hard-earned Eidi on a movie ticket.
13 | BOOM