While on the one hand Saturday night saw Lahore witnessing the onset of the dreaded smog on a crisp autumn night, on the other, in a quaint corner of the city, the world saw Neelofar, one of the most highly anticipated films, finally coming to life.
The music album of Neelofar, the film, was launched with an intimate screening of its first song at the historic Sir Ganga Ram House in Gulberg — a perfect reflection of Lahore’s timeless charm, proving to be just the ideal setting for the first glimpse into the film that pays a heartfelt homage to the city.
Enhancing the old-world charm of the location was the magical décor with vintage items, electric candles, twines of roses flowing and layered across the venue. Besides the lead actors of the film, Fawad Khan and Mahira Khan, the event was attended by musicians and artists, including Seemi Raheel, Resham, Iffat Omer, Zeb Bangash, Nameer Khan, Mian Yousaf Salahuddin, Kamran Lashari, Rashid Rana, HAVI and Mooroo, along with a host of influencers and digital content creators.
With actor Yasir Hussain serving as the host, the event kicked off with singer Vicky Haider – who is also the music director and lyricist of the film - performing the song, ‘Tu Meri’, from the film live. This performance was followed by the lead actors taking the stage while reciting poetry from the film where Fawad plays a writer and Mahira the titular role of Neelofar, a visually impaired yet radiant soul.
Later, Yasir indulged in a tete-a-tete with the film’s team, asking the writer and director, Ammar Rasool, if it was a challenge to work with two of the biggest stars in the country.
“It was very rewarding and challenging at the same time because if you’ve written something, and those lines are being delivered by actors like Fawad and Mahira, it’s obviously very rewarding because your ideas, lines and scenario can’t get a better platform than this,” replied Rasool.
When asked how he came up with the idea to write such a film, he said he was inspired by a passage in a book by writer Milan Kundera where he’s classified people based on their relationship with other people’s eyes. “That passage created these characters in my head because thematically this is what the film is about: some people want to have the world’s eyes on them, some want to be private and some just care about one person’s eyes.”
Leading lady Mahira said on a lighter note that she was playing a visually impaired girl whose misfortune was that the man she loves was Fawad Khan and she couldn’t see him. “One thing Neelofar and I agree with is that superficially we all know Fawad, but the person he is inside is a great man.”
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“This film is deeply personal to me. It’s about love in its purest, most soulful form,” she added.
Talking about the chemistry between the actors, the director said they had this “very real, palpable connection and even if these two are reading yellow pages across a table, it’ll still have this intrigue”.
Mahira added that she’s never planned her career as to who to work with and how and that she, or Fawad, had never taken their pairing and chemistry too seriously. “Everything has just fallen into place and worked by the will of God.”
Fawad, who is also one of the executive producers, said Neelofar was a story that lived in emotions.
Neelofar had been in production for around five years and seen quite a few delays till it’s released a month later. Fawad explained that when they started shooting the film five years ago, Covid-19 hit and they chose to stall the shoot to avoid any casualties.
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“We resumed shooting two to three years after Covid and it has now taken us five years to make this cute and sweet film. When you’re both the producer and actor, your work gets really easy when you have such an able team as we did.”
The actor also narrated how Neelofar had a very strong connection with Lahore – the city he grew up in -- and represented it in all its glory. “I have a very special attachment to this city. I hope the audiences see Lahore through this film the way we saw it while growing up. It’s made by a Lahori for the whole of Pakistan. Lahore is the third character of the film,” he explained.
Music director Vicky Haider added that the film represented the long-lost Pakistani cinema, which had a sophistication to it, adding that it didn’t have some industry-driven music nor was the cast or the film itself.
“Neelofar will set the benchmark of how a Pakistani film should be. It’s a feel-good film that can be watched with the entire family,” he said very confidently.
Neelofar stars Fawad Khan and Mahira Khan in the lead, supported by an ensemble of Madiha Imam, Sarwat Gilani, Atiqa Odho, Behrooz Sabzwari, Gohar Rasheed, Faisal Qureshi, Samiya Mumtaz, Rashid Farooqui, Chand Baral, Seemi Raheal, Adeel Hashmi, Hira Tareen and Navid Shahzad. It is set for a nationwide theatrical release on November 28.
