After nearly 6 years of BTS updates and post production, Shaan’s project Zarrar has an official trailer. Clocking in at 3 and a half minutes, it features a lot of action sequences, monologues about Pakistan’s dark future and chase scenes in the busy streets of Istanbul. The plot seems to center on foreign influences trying to destabilize Pakistan by declaring it a failed state and economically compromising it by bribing politicians, etc. There is even a RAW agent somewhere within the story.
As for the content of the trailer, this is familiar territory for Shaan. Other than the fact that it is completely Shaan’s own project, Zarrar shows him playing a former ISI man. He played a major in both Waar and Yalghaar, and a former Pakistani spy in Operation 021. So for Shaan, this isn’t a stretch.
The real test is how he pulls of the action sequences. The trailer shows a chase sequence, a couple of fight sequences, and a lot of political discussions spliced with stock footage from news channels. There are shots of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi as well as CNN anchor Anderson Cooper.
The trailer features veteran Nadeem as Shaan’s boss and handler. It also features Shafqat Cheema as a terrorist leader and Nayyer Ejaz as another antagonist. Kiran Malik features as a journalist (though her role is more expanded upon in a previous teaser). The acting seems on point and the production seems very sleek. Shaan and his colleagues are shown walking in and out of huge buildings, driving expensive cars, and getting out of helicopters.
However, if Zarrar is to pull off its plot well, it has to provide depth, not just action. If the latter is pulled off well it will be a benchmark moment in Pakistan’s film industry, just like how Hrithik Roshan’s Waar was for Bollywood. Yet unlike Waar, Zarrar’s plot is much more complex and carries much more weight. It’s a plot that has to be treated with a lot of care.
Interestingly enough, the center of the conspiracy against Pakistan, in the trailer anyway, seems to be the UK, and not the United States. The first shot of the trailer shows the Gherkin in London. That, at least, will provide for some intrigue.
Right now nearly every piece of news online and on television is related to the coronavirus. In the midst of all this, the response to the trailer could go either way. It could be buried underneath the updates about the virus, or it could give relief to a nation bombarded by news of rising infections and death tolls.
Zarrar has no current release date, but if all goes well, it will be releasing in 2020. Watch the trailer here.
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