From direction to casting to art direction, Chaudhry shows biopics can be made on a tight budget

The much-anticipated movie of the year Chaudhry – The Martyr finally had its premiere at Arena Cinemas. Scheduled to start at 9 pm, the screening got delayed but when the film was shown to the audience, they were blown away. It not only portrayed the character of the martyred super cop well, but some performances were too good to be ignored.

I must agree that a movie like Chaudhry – The Martyr is made once in a while in Pakistan and not every time the audience gets to see such a grand film in cinemas. One of the catchy points of the flick is the uncanny resemblance of lead actor Tariq Islam and Chaudhry Aslam, the subject of the movie.

Being a cop on duty, the actor was chosen to do the biopic of the martyr as he understands the thick and thins of a cop’s life and closely have examined the life of Chaudhry Aslam so that one could inspect his on-screen acting and appearance. He also hails from the same village, is a police officer and worked with Chaudhry Aslam for 30 years. The younger version of the super cop was played by his very own son Ickrash Khan, who did a fairly good job in his scenes.

The value addition in the film was Sohail Sameer, Saleem Meraj, Efran Motiwala, and Aamir Qureshi. From acting to body language to the overall screen presence, these actors truly won the hearts of the audience. The casting director has made a wise choice by opting for these actors as it would have been very tricky for any other actor to match the prowess of these actors, who did complete justice to their roles.

Kallu, played by Sameer Sohail, and Bhura, played by Aamir Qureshi, were the antagonists in the movie. The performance of Bhura is worth mentioning here as everything from his accent to body language were spot on. Residing in Lyari, Bhura is a Baloch goon who has deep connections with RAW and wants the city to be under his control for which he doesn’t think for a second to shed blood.

Kallu, on the other hand, is a pure Karachiite who may have started his criminal enterprise with Bhura but is now his biggest opponent. While the group’s clashes continue in the city, Chaudhry Aslam and his team (Saleem Meraj, Shamoon Abbasi, Azfar Ali, Arbaaz Khan) try their best to bring the peace back to the citizens and the city.

The devil-may-care and high-spirited cop, Chaudhry Aslam dreads and fears no one when it comes to the safety of the country. He is always ready to take risks and encourages his fellow cops to face their fears like a lion at the cost of their lives. His wife, essayed by the charming Sana Fakhr, is also shown to be a brave companion but her character has nothing much to do except worry for a husband who doesn’t even wear a bulletproof vest when facing the enemies!

The most memorable thing about the film was its action sequences that the audience take back with them when they leave the cinema. Be it the car chase on the roads of Karachi, or the final showdown at a mazaar, the director Azeem Sajjad did a great job. Producer Neha Laaj who was instrumental in bringing the life of Chaudhry Aslam to the screens must be commended for staying put, at a time when many filmmakers had shelved their films due to the pandemic.

The film may not have a song and dance number because it was a biopic on an honest cop, but even then the makers smartly put an Amna Ilyas number Aatish in the plot which was generally liked for its fresh beat and choreography. The background score kept the audience involved as well, and whenever Chaudhry Aslam’s character entered the frame, he was greeted by a loud cheer from the crowd.

Actors Yasir Hussain and Nawal Saeed who played journalists in the film were the only outsiders in the movie and it was their fresh set of eyes through which the audience sees the film. It also tackles the debate of whether Chaudhry was a hero or a villain, and by the time the film ends, the audience knows that he was necessary for Karachi otherwise the city would still have been a turf for the gang wars.

The premiere started at 10.40 pm when a lot of people had already left yet a few waited to watch the much-hyped film.  However, half of the cast including the director Azeem Sajjad was not present on the occasion, and the only prominent cast members who received the journalists, dignitaries and bloggers were Yasir Hussain and Tariq Islam.

Those who grew up in Karachi might be able to relate to the incidents shown in the film; it features the grand operation against terrorists in the 1990s, the mayhem that gripped the city in May 2007 as well as Lyari Gang war that ended when Chaudhry Aslam got involved. The film’s release however could have been delayed for some other time because it doesn’t have much time to reach the masses and will be most likely off the screens once three Pakistani and one Hollywood film are released this Eid ul Azha.