Media Magick

Unfortunately, most Pakistani films that were released after chanting the catchphrases of “support Pakistani cinema” and “revival of Pakistani cinema” for the last 7 years are either loud or filled with crass humor and below average performances; will Ishrat Made In China be any different? This was the only question in my head that kept hammering me. A film is that is claimed to be a full paisa-vasool and full-on-entertainer by the makers and the team of Ishrat Made In China; will it be engaging and humorous in ways that it will bring flocks and flocks of the audience back to the cinema? Will Mohib Mirza recreate his Ishrat magic again? Let’s find out.

Ishrat Made In China – Trailer

Ishrat Made in China revolves around Ishrat, who is good for nothing, an aimless and jobless student who earns money by participating in ‘donkey cart races’ (yes, exactly) and is always supported by his love interest Akhtar. Ishrat is spotted by Jee, a Chinese journalist, during one of the donkey cart races and he offers him to come to China along with him and participate in Donkey Care Race in China where he can win 1 million Yuan. Ishrat agrees and goes to China with him. Once in China, things start to unveil, what looked like just a donkey cart race has a lot hidden beneath the game. Things get out of hand to a level that Master Mangshi orders his sidekicks to kill Ishrat and even his dead body shouldn’t be found. Ishrat was saved by Jee and then Master BP helps Ishrat get back on his feet and teaches him Kung-fu. What happens next is typical.

The story and plot remind me of Akshay Kumar’s one of the disastrous movies ‘Chandni Chowk To China’ (2009) sans common sense, back-stories, and motives. As, in Pakistan, people don’t believe in reincarnation, here the plot revolves around a donkey cart race. If that’s not enough of a coincidence, it also reminded me of a character (Principal) from Main Hoon Na played by Boman Irani, who cannot recall the names of his staff and keep them calling by other names – in Ishrat, Nayyar Ejaz plays the same character with the same name ‘Principal’.

There is a song on HSY – Hassan Sheheryar Yasin, which is no doubt filmed very well and HSY looks awesome in it but, to me, it looks highly inspired by Jaaved Jaffery’s song Mikka from Singh is King (2008).

I read somewhere that Ishrat Made in China is a spin-off of Mohib Mirza’s comedy series Ishrat Baaji (2006) but from what I witnessed on the silver screen, I found it more like a spoof and parody of multiple Indian films – even Singham and Bajrangi Bhaijaan.

In a film like Ishrat Made in China, it’s difficult to find good performances because the script sounds more of a documentary or one-to-one talk with the audience, after every couple of minutes than a properly written script that focuses on the story, narrative and plot. Those who think that a ‘paisa-vasool’ film is all about stupidity showcased on a larger screen might like the film.

Performance wise, no one stands out, one feels bad for actors like Nayyar Ejaz, Shamoon Abbasi and Shabbir Jan who have some great performances under their sleeves; in all sorts of characters and shades. HSY stands out as the baddie and his looks are ferocious. Sara Loren, in a song, looks vivacious. Mohib Mirza looks good in gelled hair in almost every scene, as if he’s walking straight out of the salon. Sanam Saeed is wasted.

Besides the cinematography and frames of Ishrat Made in China, it’s very hard to find something interesting or worth appreciating. A few punch lines are nicely delivered and they are scattered way too far from one another. Although, the writer tried to add punches in every dialogue but failed.

I can still not process why would anyone have to learn martial arts to win a donkey cart race?  What’s the connection!

If you are in to films that are brainless entertainers and offer jokes that are lame yet you are so depressed and tensed that you will laugh at anything thrown at you then you will enjoy Ishrat Made In China. The film could have been a lot better if the stories could have been extracted from Ishrat Baaji – the series; and not a reminder of multiple Bollywood films.

And yes the film is loaded with loud performances, ice-cold jakes (ek dum thhanday) and easily forgetful performances.

From where I see it, Mohib Mirza’s Ishrat Made in China is equally as entertaining as Sajid Khan’s Himmatwala & Humshakals were.

Watch 60 Seconds Movie Review of Ishrat Made In China