Another Pakistani movie is all set to hit theatres on 2nd December 2016; 8969, a suspense thriller based on true events that occurred in Karachi some time ago.
“The movie would bring awareness of the values of relations and humanity,” claims the director and main lead of the movie, Azeem Sajjad.
Moreover, the movie is about misusing the social media and its hazards, “You should just watch the movie without expectations. It is a simple thriller with some romance. Please do not expect songs on Nanga Parbat, someone jumping off a plane without a parachute, designer’s wardrobe, Hollywood or Bollywood stars.”
The movie stars Azeem Sajjad as the lead hero, Saba Qamar and Sadaf Hamid as the two leading heroines along with Hussain Tiwana, Anam Malik, Haseeb Khan, Sama Shah, Sunny Khan, Princess Zuni and Ali Jibran Khan, to name a few.
8969 was supposed to be a telefilm when it was shot in 2012, but later it was decided to be turned into a feature film. The delay in the release, Azeem accredits to the team’s perfectionism, “Unlike TV plays, movies are more time-consuming.”
“Waar took five years before hitting the cinemas,” he said.
“There wasn’t a reason for the delay but the team is a perfectionist team, so we took the time to finish the project in a professional manner,” Azeem added.
Another arising issue with the upcoming is that one of the leads, Saba Qamar, has refused to acknowledge the movie, when asked Azeem told Pakistan Today, “That is a story of another time. Though we aren’t on talking terms anymore I have a lot of respect for her.”
“She did not act in 8969 on gunpoint. She played her role with all of her heart; the BTS and team of 8969 are evidence enough,” he added.
Azeem who has been part of the Pakistani entertainment industry for the past three decades has not had a big commercial success yet.
“On the risk of sounding overly blunt, it’s quite unfortunate that like all other fields in our country and the media is also infected with the virus of corruption,” he said.
One of the characters of a modern urban Christian girl is played by Sama Saha. This is her debut onto the silver screen of Pakistan.
“When I read the script I thought that I can do justice to the role, also I could practice my abilities further,” she said while talking to Pakistan Today.
She is very positive about the release of the movie and thinks that it would be a turning point for her.
“I would like to be recognised as a good actor rather than an item number dancer,” she said.
Another important character is played by Haseeb Khan, who has been working with Azeem since 2007.
His character is the Head of Police Investigation Department, trying to solve the mystery.
“I have played many comical police characters this is the first serious one,” Haseeb said.
Talking about his delay he said that the excitement had reduced and increased at different points in time.
“But I could never forget about it because it was my first appearance on the big screen,” he adds with renewed excitement.
The movie is scheduled to release on 2 December 2016, a small budget movie trying to set a trend for producers and directors who cannot be part of the great club of filmmaking.
“8969 will inspire everyone to attempt making films regardless of the budget limitations,” Azeem says quoting that even in Bollywood there are many tires of production and all of them have different audiences and acclaims.
