The last two decades have witnessed the widespread deterioration of Pakistan’s film industry leading to a sharp fall in studio releases on a weekly basis. At a time when the only recipe for success is sticking to potboilers, how and why film production still survives is anybody’s guess.

Director Syed Faisal Bukhari has the film Bhai Log to his name which didn’t do well commercially. But even its failure couldn’t put a dent in his determination to make films. This time with a relatively better idea, script and a well-choreographed item song, he hopes to finally win over cinema-going audiences with Sultanat.

According to Faisal Bukhari, it took him almost two years to shoot Sultanat in Dubai, Pakistan, Australia and Thailand. “My aim was to make it different while telling the story of the mafia underworld. The plot revolves around the protagonist Aslam Bhai who runs a business which creates envy in his rival Sikandar played by Javed Sheikh. Sikandar wants to kill Aslam and head the mafia underworld but his attempts are repeatedly foiled. He even tries to marry his son with Aslam’s younger sister Zainab who later falls in love and marries a guy who is blackmailed by Sikandar to take revenge on Aslam. But when she gets pregnant, the husband has a change of heart. Sikandar ultimately hires professional assassins to deal with Aslam.”

Director Syed Faisal Bukhari’s Sultanat tells the true, real-life story of intrigue and rivalry in the underworld mafia

A parallel love story also exists with Aslam’s attractive wife Pari (Shweta Tiwari) harbouring hostility towards Tara (Aslam’s former mistress). Pari warns Tara against coming back in her husband’s life but the latter spells it out for her by saying: “Tum uss ki biwi ho aur uss kay ghar main raho gi. Main uss ki mehbooba hoon aur uss kay dil mein rahoon gi!”

The Hollywood-style action sequences in Sultanat are somewhat entertaining. At the film’s Lahore premiere, a small group of young men sitting next to me said that they had seen both Hercules and Salman Khan’s Kick and found Sultanat better entertainment-wise.

“We approached 41 cinema houses to promote the film’s release but ended up showing it in only 25. The management of cinema houses in Hyderabad, Multan, Bahria Town Lahore/Islamabad didn’t cooperate with us, preferring to show Salman Khan’s Kick instead as an Eid release. No doubt these cities would eventually screen Sultanat but we have lost considerable business,” Bukhari lamented. Film distributor Kamran Ejaz has now allegedly filed an application at the offices of the Film Exhibitors Association citing ‘violation of bond’, according to which local cinemas are bound to screen Pakistani films.

While Aslam Bhatti does not disappoint in Sultanat, playing the romantic hero is not his thing for sure. Javaid Sheikh proves himself as a versatile actor and accredits the producer with the success of the film. “The producer spent lavishly at the shoot locales with exotic beaches and choppers, enlisting the help of the Thai police, comfortable and luxurious transportation and bungalows, and expensive customized cars in order to give the real feel to Sultanat’s underworld theme,” he said.

As item songs have become a necessity in films so Sonay De Tavetree has been picturised on Sara Loren (of Kajraare fame). The dance choreography and Sara Loren’s body language impressed the audience at the premiere show who demanded an encore. Talking about Ahsan Khan and Mustafa Qureshi’s guest appearances, the producer said, “Due to the length of the movie we were forced to chop off some of their scenes. But you will get to see their complete roles in the forthcoming television drama of the same name as the film. I was determined to produce a heavy-budget film that could bring the audience back to our cinema houses. I plan to return with even better productions.” He also complained that the Pakistani embassy in India failed to issue visas to the Indian artists for promotional purposes. “But they will all be present at the film’s Dubai premiere,” Aslam Bhatti promised.

Till the filing of this report, the producer claimed to have recovered his investment amount and announced three more new films, one of which will be shot in Russia. While we cannot term Sultanat an A-class film as there is still much room for improvement, it would be unfair to write it off completely. The Indian artists’ performance definitely leaves a lasting impression, especially in one scene where Tabraiz confronts Sikandar with the dialogue “agar Aslam psycho hai to hum bhi pagal se kum nahin.”

The reasonable acclaim that Sultanat has garnered shows that Pakistani audiences are not averse to Pakistani films. Given ample research with technical facilities and flawless direction, our film-makers can still generate interest in local movies, pulling in both the classes and the masses.

Finally, it would interest everybody to know that the story of Sultanat is based on real incidents based on producer Aslam Bhatti’s life.

Published in Dawn, Sunday Magazine, August 17th, 2014