Media Magick

In Pakistan, filmmakers and drama writers could never explore the underworld scene or subjects around the gang wars taking place in Karachi. Even with the revival of Pakistani cinema and introduction of web series, no one took the risk to explore this side, sans Kamal Khan in Laal Kabooter, and followed subjects revolving around runaway bride, rom-coms, family dramas or senseless comedies. Shamoon Abbasi once again proved that he is going after unique and creative projects. After Durj, Shamoon Abbasi has returned with Karachi Division, a webseries that highlights the gang war between two gangs operating from Karachi.

Trailer – Karachi Division

First things first, Karachi Division is not a desi-version of Mirzapur, GoW or Sacred Games; it’s very much Pakistani and specially Karachi centric. Whoever has lived in Karachi or knows about the city will vouch for the authenticity of the research carried out to create Karachi Division a reality. The story is very simple, something that is very common in series or films that depict gang wars and tussles between two gangs operating from the same city. We have two gang heads here, Tariq Mirza (Shamoon Abbasi) and Saleem Gutka (Imran Patel); and the rest of the series revolves around them. There are other integral characters in Karachi Gangs but they don’t get as much spotlight as the gang-lords. Hassam Khan as Bilal, the right hand of Tariq Mirza is effective but his lines aren’t written with strong impact.

Rafey Khan as SSP Mumtaz looks the character and plays his part effectively. Imran Patel has the potential and dons the character well but his dialogue delivery reminds me of Joginder Shelly, he hams (read: overacts) a lot, especially in scenes where he has to pull off a dramatic scene. Kashif Javed as Lallan brings a few smiles and plays his part well.

Direction wise, Karachi Division is promising; there are hopes that the second season will be a better package as compared to the first one. Music goes with the mood of the series.

Overall, Karachi Division is an ambitious step towards something different, creative and engaging but it has its shortcomings. Characters look fluff, minus Shamoon Abbasi’s and Rafey Khan’s. There are no character depths and motives associated with actors. It looks a little too vanilla. The climax is abrupt and it looks like things have been copped off to a level to shorten the runtime of the series. The (almost) 2 hours web series divided in to 6 episodes (Meet Tariq Mirza, The Foreign Enemy, The Strange Cop, Burn Karachi Burn, The Deal, and The Big Loss) could have been beefed up with backstories associated with the gang-lords and people working under them.

Short Karachi Division Review:

Research and concept wise, Karachi Division is a decent attempt but lacks the performance zing by major star-cast. Go watch this series on StazPlay by Cinepax and decide yourself.