August 14 will not only mark Pakistan’s 67th birthday, but will also bring with it a breath of fresh air for Pakistani cinema. After a long time, two major Pakistani films will be competing against each other to take the lion’s share at the box office.
Zeba Bakhtiar and Jami Mahmood’s Operation 021, which is being distributed by IMGC Entertainment, will open in cinemas on Independence Day. Releasing on the same day is Afia Nathanial’s Dukhtar, being presented in association with Crew Films and distributed by Geo Films. Both films were expected to release on Eidul Fitr to capitalise on the expected massive turnout in cinemas on the day, but were possibly delayed due to the release of the Salman Khan-starrer, Kick.
Operation 021 certainly has an advantage over Dukhtar due to its large-scale marketing and the ‘Shaan factor’. Dukhtar relies heavily on content and has suffered due to the ban on Geo Television Network. Only a month and that too, with Ramazan under way, is left for the film to create a buzz, unless its producers consider the content strong enough for mere word of mouth to do the job for them.
