Janaan has been in the news since the day the film was announced. The producers always said that this was going to be a film that will promote all things Pakistani and boy have they delivered on that promise!

Janaan is a story about Meena, a Pakistani Canadian who reluctantly comes to visit her family in Swat for her cousin’s wedding. In her family, are also two brothers, Asfandyar Khan and Daniyal Muraad Khan, who are poles apart but yet have a strong bond that unites them.  As the wedding madness unravels, we find out more about the family, the good and the bad, the emotions and the darkness.

We were lucky to watch Janaan with the cast and crew at a special premiere in Lahore and we absolutely loved every bit of it! Needless to say, we cannot wait for the rest of you to watch it too!

Here are our top five reasons (trust us, there are so many more!) why you should catch the film this Eid.

1)      It is a family entertainer, perfect for the holiday release!

You know those films that the entire family wants to go watch together only to have one too many awkward moments with the double-meaning jokes and the explicit content on screen? Well, Janaan has none of that so can actually go and enjoy it with the fam. And since it is set in a shaadi ka ghar, with all the love and warmth of one, you cannot help but feel swayed by the emotion, and maybe have yourself surrounded by memories!

 

2)      It is shot in Swat; the mountains and the beauty will make you fall in love with Pakistan, all over again!

If you loved the locations of Moor and Diyar-e-Dil, then Janaan is going to completely bowl you over. While a lot of the productions choose to shoot outside of the country, Janaan, with its efforts of keeping up the Pakistaniyat of the film, has gloriously covered locations in the North, and that gives us so much joy. Rest assured, the minute you step out of the cinema, you’d want to get in the car and go up North.

3)      The music! Oh God the music! We loved that the very Pakistani, Shakar Wandaan Re was the shaadi anthem of last year. This shaadi season, we get Shor Sharaaba! The song that will make sure nobody is sitting in their seats, because we didn’t want to, either (but formal and all). Other favourites are the re-worked Reidi Gul and of course, the emotionally stinging title track. The music, the score add so much more soul to the film, that you will feel every emotion on the screen! Thankfully, no item songs in this one.

4)      Osman Khalid Butt – the guy who keeps surprising us with his talent – has done nothing less with the screenplay of the film! It is crisp and witty, and yet has heart and intensity where needed. The scenes are well thought-out and the director, Azfar Jafri, has done an ace job in translating these scenes on to the screen. The beauty of the story lies in its simplicity and honestly – we are definitely fans of such storytelling. A special mention to the producers Imran Raza Kazmi, Hareem Farooq et al for the slick production, without whom not even half of this would have been possible. While Imran Raza Kazmi modestly said that there were ‘limited resources’, it really doesn’t feel that way when you watch the film!

5)      The cast – have you seen how good looking they are? We mean, every single one of them? And with the acting chops that they have, there’s no stopping this lot! While we have seen Ali Rehman Khan, Armeena Khan, Ajab Gul, Mishi Khan and the veteran actor NayyarEjaz prove their acting mettle on our screens over and over again, debutants Bilal Ashraf, Usman Mukhtar and Hania Amir have done complete justice to their parts. A massive shout-out to Usman Mukhtar scenes – he plays the ‘outsider’ with absolute perfection!

All in all, Janaan has the makings of a classic; one that sets the mark, pretty high, for other films to follow. With the perfect balance of emotion, drama, and love, and the balance of the energy that each actor brought onto the screen, makes it an amazing watch! So once you’re done with your goats, we suggest you take your entire family and head onto the nearest cinemas and watch Janaan. Rest assured, you’ll be missing your family, if you don’t take them along!