Maya Ali and Ali Zafar’s first movie, Teefa in Trouble, claims to be the most expensive Pakistani production till date and has set the bar high for the country’s film industry.

The film directed by Ahsan Rahim is a story of an ordinary Lahori boy named Teefa, played by Ali Zafar who is raised in the interior of Lahore by his bebe (mother) Simi Raheel, as he was orphaned at a young age. He was introduced to the world of crime by a Butt Sahab, played by Mehmood Aslam. For Teefa, money and power are all that matter.

Meanwhile, Anya, played by Maya Ali, is the daughter of Javed Sheikh’s character Bonzo, who is a childhood friend of Butt Sahab and is now a billionaire in Warsaw, Poland.

Bonzo has refused to wed Anya to Butt Sahab’s goofy and chubby son and instead wants her to marry a local business tycoon’s son in order to build connections.

Not willing to take no for an answer, Butt Sahab tells Teefa to take the first flight to Warsaw, kidnap Anya and bring her back and offers him Rs500,000 for his services.

Teefa arrives in Poland and is helped in his mission by his friend Tony Dot Shah, played by Faisal Qureshi. They do not have a smart plan for the kidnapping as they have not done it before.

However, Anya makes the job easy for them as she had planned to run away on the day of her wedding. Once the trio is on the run, Teefa gets into trouble as he falls in love with Anya, who had liked a local Polish man. However, she too starts getting drawn towards Teefa.

The credit for this action-comedy film goes to the director more than the actors and Mr Rahim has outdone most of his contemporaries. The film contains beautiful scenery from Warsaw and captures the pristine lakes and forests well. The editing is crisp and the film is very well directed. The action sequences are very realistic, with well synchronised fights and good handling of weapons.

The film also brilliantly depicts Lahore and the environment of the walled city, from the architecture to the dialect and the hospitality of a close-knit community, the film makes for a great cultural treat.

Many of the dialogues of the characters played by Faisal Qureshi, Ali Zafar and Mehmood Aslam were comical and all three managed to deliver them well.

Ali Zafar’s character was a romantic one but he also had to do many action sequences such as chasing cars, jumping from a movie train and others. Maya Ali carried the role of a rich girl wanting love and affection flawlessly from her demeanour, attire and body language.

Mehmood Aslam as Butt Sahib also did justice to his role. His dialogue delivery in a typical Punjabi ascent, his egoistic skirmishes with his childhood friend Bonzo and his undercover criminal activities at home were naturally delivered as a full package by this claim to fame, Mehmood Sahib of Bulbulay.

Except for the song Item Number, the music in the film is not up to the mark. Item Number was well written and perfectly choreographed and sung by Aima Baig and Ali Zafar.

Published in Dawn, July 23rd, 2018