Media Magick

Films, releasing under the umbrella of Pakistani cinema, are not doing much for the betterment of cinema, business, content etc. We have witnessed films with known names, celebrities, prominent directors and spellbinding storytellers miserably failing to entice audience to visit cinemas to watch their films. This is alarming for the Pakistani film industry. Betabiyan is directorial debut of Abdul Majib Khan who teamed up with a debutant writer Wasif Burney. Betabiyan is also the launch pad of Syed Arez and Saima Baloch. Let’s see how successfully this team of newcomers has pulled off their first effort.

Betabiyan Trailer

Betabiyan showcases a simple story which offers romance, lighthearted comedy, some intense emotional scenes and can be put under the head of a family drama. The makers of the film tried their best to keep Betabiyan balanced but there is still something that’s missing in the film; but let’s highlight the good points of Betabiyan.

The trend of introducing fresh faces in Pakistani film industry is the need of the hour, and this film introduces Arez and Saima Baloch in lead characters. So, the credit should be given to the makers where it is due. Arez has the screen presence and can do well in the industry, if he works really hard on his emotional scenes, even in comic scenes there’s a room for improvement and if he gets a good director he might be able to pull it off well. Saima looks good and her performance is fine as a newcomer. She needs to work very hard to make her presence strong in the industry where we have very few but very talented actresses.

Betabiyan Title Track

Babar Ali as the father is okay, could have been brilliant; viewers can still watch the shades of his earlier characters from Love 95 and Shararat etc. in a character where he is playing quite an elderly role. The surprise of the film is Hiba Ali Khan. Hiba makes the most out of her character and shows all the elements of becoming a good performer. Hiba looks gorgeous, performs decently and delivers her lines better than the rest. Her screen presence is fascinating. Rest of the cast is okay but one actor who keeps bothering you is (hands down) Waqar Godhra, he never loses a single chance to irritate the audience, trying to act funny – and miserably failing at it.

Betabiyan is immensely weak in terms of script; dialogues have zero impact on viewers. There are a few good lines but they are too few and far between. The film could have been a lot better if the dialogues and direction had been a little impressive. Direction wise, Abdul Majid Khan delivers a below average product. Music of Betabiyan doesn’t stay with audience; it could have been a strong musical with fresh cast and focus on melodrama and romance but that opportunity is also missed.

Let’s hope that audience give Betabiyan a chance based on fresh cast, different treatment, which is ‘definitely’ not film-like; as it’s in no way a grand watch and neither relies heavily on content or performance. It’s lighthearted film by a fresh team.