Manmohan Desai brand of cinema for Actor In Law

Amitabh Bachchan would have performed as the main actor and Manmohan Desai would be its director if “Actor in Law”“Actor in Law” would be made 30 years ago. No doubt, there is much praise for Qureshi by making such comparison but it is right to say that a touch of Desai masala entertainer that include witty comedy, a good looking hero, rain, dances, message of secularism and overacting by few characters. Its dance sequence is quite similar to that of Tinnu Anand and Bachchan’s song “Andheri Raaton Mein Sunsaan Raahon Par”.

Mehwish Hayat was playing the role of a minority girl due to which her accent was different. The best thing about the film is that it presents its message in a clear way which is similar to presenting difficult mathematical equations trough clear canvas paintings.

Apart from few exceptions, the screenplay was well displayed. The court room scene was weak while scenes of political rivals are also quite unclear. Towards the climax of film in second half, other characters were prominent as compared to hero. The presence of Shaan Mirza was quite important on that occasion instead of his father and heroine of the film. Both Shaan and father palyed good emotional role in the film but it was performed much better and classy by father in the end.

Fahad Mustafa played the most important character. His acting, dance and comedy all are superb. His praise by Om Puri wasn’t a surprise. He played his emotional scenes very well despite being large in numbers. He has proved through his versatile acting that he is a prospect of Pakistani film industry and the recent revival of the industry depends on actors like him to sustain for a long duration.

Om Puri is a senior actor while this role was quite easier for him due to his class. If someone else may perform this role then the result would not have been such impressive.
The performance of Mehwish Hayat was also quite well and she didn’t disappoint with her role. Alyy Khan, Saleem Mairaj and Nayyer Ijaz also did justice with their roles in the film. Apart from Khalid Anum, all the other comedians performed reasonably well.

Music by Shani was appropriate according to the mood of the film while the title song ‘Khudaya’ by Rahat Fateh Ali Khan was inspired from ‘Tadap Tadap’ of film “Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam”.
The picturization of song “Dil Dancer Hogaya” was done artistically especially when Fahad invites Mehwish for a dance. The production team also showed true picture of Karachi in the film. Qureshi really made the things quite simple in his film “Actor in law” just like Desai’s.
Even today, Farah Khan and few others are copying the same theme from Desai that was created decades ago but still present in the film and this film could be called as a Pakistani version of Desai’s film.

At times, ‘Actor in Law’ seems original while it looks like a common film at others. Qureshi made several of its scenes superb while they might look like unnatural otherwise. But there is no doubt that there are more positives in this film than negatives and it is a completely entertaining film.

Tags: Actor In Law | Pakistani Movie