Khel Khel Mein (transl. All in the game) is a 2021 Pakistani historical drama film directed and written by Nabeel Qureshi and produced by Fizza Ali Meerza. It stars Sajal Aly and Bilal Abbas Khan.[1][2] The story of the movie is related to the separation of East Pakistan from West Pakistan in 1971.[3][4] The film was theatrically released on 19 November 2021.[5] The film revolves around a drama club in a university taking its production (based on the 1971 war that led to the breaking away of East Pakistan) to a drama festival in Dhaka.
| Khel Khel Mein | |
|---|---|
.jpg) Theatrical release poster | |
| Urdu | کھیل کھیل میں |
| Directed by | Nabeel Qureshi |
| Written by | Nabeel Qureshi Fizza Ali Meerza |
| Produced by | Fizza Ali Meerza |
| Starring | Sajal Aly Bilal Abbas Khan |
| Music by | Shuja Haider Asrar Shah Majid Raza |
Production company | Filmwala Pictures |
| Distributed by | ARY Films Eveready Pictures |
Release date |
|
| Country | Pakistan |
| Language | Urdu |
| Box office | Rs 6.00 crore (US$400,000) |
Plot
Khel Khel Mein revolves around the ever growing myths, mystery and mistrust after the Surrender of Pakistan. The film is a projection of the existing mindset and curiosity around the subject, which is interestingly knit into a journey of students exploring the history and making history by doing not the so obvious and expected, instead following the path of mutual respect, love and peace for all.[6]
Cast
- Sajal Aly as Zara
- Bilal Abbas Khan[7] as Saad
- Javed Sheikh as Sikandar Salman
- Marina Khan as Mrs. Haque
- Nazr Ul Hasan as Babu
- Manzar Sehbai as Karamullah
- Samina Ahmed as Zaib
- Sheheryar Munawar as Wajih
- Naveed Raza as Vikram
- Irfan Motiwala as Masdodi (Administrator)
- Hani Taha as Maria Yazdani
- Zehra Nawab as Rukhsar
- Farhan Ally Agha as Waji
- Laila Wasti as Zara's Mother
- Reham Rafiq as Noorie
- Mojiz Hasan as Pervaiz
- Hina Rizvi as Hostel's Warden
- Hammad Sheikh as Umang Brohi
- Hira Umer as Brohi's sister
- Hussain Mohsin as Peter
- Ali Rehman as Ali
- Qudsia Ali as Aisha
- Aneesha Altaf as Sara
- Hassan Bin Javed as Saif
- Fayed Ali as Zafar
- Faham Usman as Happy (Team India)
Additionally, Ali Zafar makes a cameo appearance in the film.[8]
Soundtrack
| No. | Title | Lyrics | Music | Singer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Nayi Soch" | Khawaja Danish | Shuja Haider | Shuja Haider, Jabar Abbas, Nida Hussain, Fabiha Hashmi, Maria, Panah, Shehryar, Safeer | 2:05 |
| 2. | "Zid Pe Ara" | Khawaja Danish | Shani Arshad | Shani Arshad | 2:05 |
| 3. | "Hum Laye Hain Toofan Se" | Fayyaz Hashmi | Asrar Shah | Asrar | 2:38 |
| Total length: | 6:48 | ||||
Release
The teaser of the film was released on 30 October 2021.[9] The teaser received mixed reviews due to the resemblance of the story line with Bollywood's 2006 coming-of-age drama Rang De Basanti.[10] The official trailer was released on 8 November 2021. The film was theatrically released nationwide on 19 November 2021 and was the first film to be released in the country after the COVID-19 lockdown.[11]
Production
On 26 February 2021, Sajal Aly and Bilal Abbas Khan shared on their social media handles that they were leading actors in the film.[12][13] Besides Aly and Khan, Sheheryar Munawar joined the cast for an extended cameo appearance.[14] The cast also includes veterans such as Samina Ahmed, Manzar Sehbai (who played the older version of Munawar), Marina Khan, Javed Sheikh and Farhan Ally Agha.[15] Qureshi revealed about the genre of the film that it will be a historical/ drama, much different to his previous films.[16] On 11 July 2021, Qureshi shared on his social media handle that shooting of film has been completed and it took 50 days to complete.[17]
Reception
Box office
The film collected a total of PKR 25 million worldwide in its first week of release and a total of PKR 60 million in its entire theatrical run.It was the first film to push open the local cinema market after COVID-19 lockdown.[18]
Critical reception
The News International praised the performances of Aly, Sehbai and Munawar but criticised its unauthentic narrative.[19]
Accolades
| Ceremony | Categories | Recipients | Winners |
|---|---|---|---|
| 21st Lux Style Awards[20] | Best Film | Khel Khel Mein | Won |
| Best Film Actor | Bilal Abbas Khan | ||
| Best Film Actress | Sajal Aly | ||
| Best Film Song | Nayi Soch |
