What a Waar!

They say "You have to see it to believe it". This does not apply on the movie "Waar". People had already created a lot of hype about the movie. The trailer had grasped audience attention and it was very much awaited by all.
I watched it today. After at least three weeks of it's release and reading spoilers (thanks to Twitter ofcourse) about the movie I finally watched it. and what a experience it has been. I am still spell-bound by the acting, cinematography, the sound effects and the music. Everything left its permanent charm on me. I couldn't really imagine it was Bilal Lashari's debut film. I'd like to first highlight the positives (and believe me it has many) of the movie.

Positives:
Shaan: Our Hero. I could easily say "agaya tey chah  gaya thaa kar ke" for him. Every single dialogue he uttered was so captivating, filled with emotions and so heartfelt that I felt goosebumps whenever he had a scene with the villain Shamoon Abbasi (ill come to him later). His sober acting suited his character so well that one could feel his pain almost exactly the same way. Shaan lived up to his character. I still cant find any weak points in his role.

Hamza Ali Abbasi: my newest crush ever ofcourse. Lol. I always knew he was a good actor. Having watched him in his drama "Mere Dard ko Jo Zubaan Milay" playing an extremely convincing negative role, I knew this guy had potential. Bilal Lashari saw that too. Hamza Ali Abbasi is everything you want in a movie or in a (side) hero. He has got looks (hayee), he has got talent and he has got what it takes to become a great actor. His speech that he gives to his soldiers "Tau tyaar ho dikhanay kai liye apne dushmanon ko kai ham tyaar hain, iss Dharti maa kai betay qurbani kai liye tyaar hain, Naara e Takbeer ALLAH HU AKBAR" That Speech is what made me fall in love with his character. I was moved to tears and I wanted to yell "Allah Hu Akbar" with him! He played a police officer's role perfect to the core. The only thing I would have wanted was Abbasi's fighting sequence with one of the villains but nonetheless,I have no complains.

Ali Azmat: I really thought Ali Azmat had a strong character in the movie. He had. I still cant recall his acting skills the way I can of Shaan and Hamza Abbasi though. He could have really worked on his diction and accent though. He talked like one of those weird jageerdar politicians of a town we all hate and thus it was difficult for me to see him as a positive character. saying "waqt" as "Waq-qat" and "Quaid" as "Qaa-yad" was not cool.

Aisha Khan: beauty with brains would be a perfect title for this lady. She has it all. Just like Hamza Ali Abbasi, she did not fail to make her mark in the movie. Her acting skills shown through every single scene she appeared in. The only exaggerated part was where she suddenly turns into one of the members of a Bomb Disposal Squad ( if Im not wrong she just worked as an Intelligence officer and trained for shooting and DIDNT deal with explosives). Nevertheless, Her scene after Hamza Ali Abbasi's death (oh shut up, y'all must have watched it by now so this is not a spoiler :P) was so so real, I couldnt hold my tears back and me and my mum were crying in unison with her. Thank you for those tears, Aisha.

Meesha: Lakhsmi aka Meesha Shafi. I have a strong disliking for her cause I think she can not act and she was just there to fill in the X-factor of that movie (as if there was any need). I wont be giving her due credit if I said I didnt like her acting in this movie. She did well. Created a negative vibe around her and made us fall in hate with her. Thats enough, my dislike doesnt allow me to proceed further on Lakshmi Bai.

Shamoon Abbasi: You know that feeling you get where you fall in love with the hero as well as the villain? that was what Shamoon did to me. What an actor. truly inspiring. If anything, Bilal Lashari needs to be proud of casting him for a villainous role. He lived the character to its fullest, made us hate him and made his presence felt. He was everything a villain should be. The only thing I would have wanted was Shaan to beat him to a miserable and more cruel death (yeah didnt we just hate him that much?)

Negatives:

Well the only negatives I found are regarding the accents of the actors. Pushtoons speak in Urdu in a Punjabi accent (I mean seriously, what was that?). The fighting scene between Shaan and Shamoon was really really cut down to a minimal. I swear the director should have extended it to a 5 mins scene and nobody would have questioned it. The dance scene between Meesha Shafi and Shamoon Abbas was a bit over-board. I mean Shamoon could have been shown singing "Ni Swan Song tu meri meri, main tera Rawal Rawal" for Meesha and it would have looked fine.

I could go on and on about how the fighting scenes, the locations and the background music were shot to perfection. Waar truly is what our Pakistani Cinema needed. Shoaib Mansoor opened the doors for the young talent to step forward and shine and thats what Bilal Lashari did. Kudos to him. I was sure I won't be alone in applauding the movie after the credits appeared and the audience would clap along with me and guess what? I wasn't wrong.