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With films like Jawani Phir Nahi Ani series and Punjab Nahi Jaungi, Nadeem Baig is counted amongst the most accomplished film directors after the revival of Pakistani Cinema. Baig’s comradery with Humayun Saeed, Mehwish Hayat, Khalil Ur Rehman Qamar and ARY Films is considered as one of the most bankable attributes in the Pakistani film industry. London Nahi Jaunga is also a project of the same team. Previously the team impressed Pakistani audience with Punjab Nahi Jaungi and now they are back with yet another romantic drama that features some topnotch names from both TV and film industry of Pakistan. London Nahi Jaunga features Humayun Saeed, Mehwish Hayat, Vasay Chaudhry, Sohail Ahmed, Kubra Khan, Asif Raza Mir and Gohar Raseed in important characters.

Trailer London Nahi Jaunga

The story of London Nahi Jaunga revolves around Chaudhary Jameel (Humayun Saeed) who likes to invest his time in dog races, poetry and wants to get married to a girl with whom he can fall in love at first sight. On the engagement day of Arzoo (Kubra Khan) and Jameel, Sara (Mehwish Hayat) visits them with an agenda and the engagement ceremony is cancelled. Sara tells Jameel that she wants to buy the house of his ancestors and if he agrees to it, she will marry him. Jameel is astonished by Sara’s beauty and he goes to is father Chaudhry Tiwana (Sohail Ahmed) and asks him to go to Sara and ask her hand in marriage. What happens next is what London Nahi Jaunga is all about.

Humayun Saeed looks good and performs well as Chaudhry Jameel but the focus on him is a little too much. Saeed has his fair share of gripping and impactful scenes where he effortlessly engages his audience but those scenes are scattered few and far between. The biggest letdown of London Nahi Jaunga is a poorly written script that doesn’t allow characters to build the way they should. The first half is super slow and this makes it a dragged watch, besides a few hilarious and interesting scenes, the film fails to roar high based on its dialogues and characters’ depths.

Mehwish Hayat takes every challenge with gusto and she delivers an intense performance with complete command; a few of her scenes make her stand tall in front of legendary actors like Sohail Ahmed and Humayun Saeed. Unfortunately, Hayat’s character is one dimensional and has no depth. She might have some great lines to say in the film but the soul of the character is shallow. Kubra Khan is also first-rate and performs her part decently. Veterans like Asif Raza Mir, Sabah Faisal and Salman Shahid are wasted because of mediocre character buildups.

It will not be wrong to say that the strongest anchor of London Nahi Jaunga is hands down Sohail Ahmed and his dialogue delivery. Sohail Ahmed is one of such actors who can effortlessly turn a simple (read: basic) dialogue in to the most impactful and meaningful one, with his delivery. Most of the wow-moments and high voltage dramatic scenes are led by Sohail Ahmed, he nails every bit of it. Gohar Rasheed is a talent that is wasted in this film.

Watch Movie Review: London Nahi Jaunga

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Those who are familiar with Khalil Ur Rehman Qamar’s style of writing, might not find London Nahi Jaunga anywhere close to his previous or even average works. Qamar is known for his hard-hitting, deep and subliminally impactful dialogues, but in London Nahi Jaunga the flare is very mild. In comparison with Punjab Nahi Jaungi, London Nahi Jaunga is very weak in terms of script, characters development, dialogues and realistic treatment.

Nadeem Baig tries his best to save the ship and he manages to do that quite well. As director, Baig does a commendable job but if the story had been a little realistic and sensibly written this task would have been easier. London Nahi Jaunga is a one-time watch, unlike Punjab Nahi Jaungi, it shows a forceful one sided never-say-die love story of strong headed man who is not willing to take NO as an answer and tries to make everyone believe that he is the best fit for the girl. The film highlights a few issues that are not given proper backings and rationales. The film offers everything very conveniently i.e. too good to be true. The climax is wrapped up hastily.

Based on performances that aren’t very different from what we watch on TV, music that is forgetful, writing that even after highlighting women centric issues and cracking jokes on political scenarios but sound forced, I rate London Nahi Jaunga 2 out of 5 stars.