Fans of gritty, true-to-life urban cinema will be elated to learn that joining the ranks of films such as Laal Kabootar, Chambaili, and Zinda Bhaag will be the new indie thriller Madaari, which showcases the chaos-laden and sometimes dark journey of a young political worker. Teaser for the Karachi-shot revenge drama was released in January last year that left many wanting to sample more of the tense sepia-tinted narrative. Following the Covid-19 sabbatical, during which makers of the project wrapped up its twenty-seven day shoot, the film has now entered its post-production phase and will be ready for a commercial release very soon.
Whenever we come across an interesting indie-project, we at PakistaniCinema make sure that we follow its trail and stay up to speed with its latest developments. I got in touch with Seraj-us-Salikin, who happens to be co-producing as well as helming the project, and queried him about the motivation behind the film’s storyline – was it something that developed organically and was close to his heart, or did the choice of genre dictate the narrative? “A bit of everything,” he stated, adding “We have only shown what we have observed growing up in Karachi – we have lived through mostly everything depicted, so it’s a very realistic storyline that we have treated in a similarly lifelike manner.” Shedding more light on its storyline, he revealed: “The film explores how many forces behind the scenes – which includes the powerful, the political forces and the city itself manipulate and effectively control the life of a common citizen. And we have depicted it through a hyper-realistic lens.”
True to life, gritty crime dramas are right up our alley – so the natural question is, when and where do we get to watch this indie thriller? “Our work on the film will be wrapping up within a month, and then onwards it depends on the situation in the exhibition sector i.e. when the cinemas open up.” While we wait for the film’s trailer, Salikin shared a couple of snippets from the film’s rich visual tapestry, including some behind-the-scenes shots that offer a window into the true-to-life world of Madaari.
“The subject is quite commercial and the film is not overly complex or difficult to understand, so we hope the wide swathe of the audience will be able to enjoy it,” he responds when I query about whether he would slot his film as commercial or parallel cinema. Salikin is a SZABIST graduate and the film relies on the acting talents of NAPA students – all of which offers hope for upcoming filmmakers and film students yearning for their projects to see the light of the day.
Stay tuned to PakistaniCinema.net for the latest on Madaari!
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