“While the film industry has been gradually growing this decade, it is music that truly came back with a bang this year”
‘How successful Arth turns out to be would be determined in the coming weeks, but there’s more than a fair chance that 2017 could turn out to be an underwhelming year for Shaan Shahid, with neither Yalghaar nor Arth quite living up to the hype.’
‘Even so, instead of the movies that let the fans, and themselves, down 2017 should be remembered for – in addition to the groundbreaking successes of PNJ and NMA2 – for fresh offerings that had both a new brand of filmmaking and budding stars.’
The year 2017 had milestones for both the music and film industry, with the highest grossing Pakistani movie of all-time and comebacks galore by rock artists converging in the Pepsi Battle of the Bands.
While the film industry has been gradually growing this decade, it is music that truly came back with a bang this year. But let’s look at the former first. Eid-ul-Fitr offered the year’s two biggest hits, with Punjab Nahi Jaungi and Na Maloom Afraad 2 becoming the highest grossing films of 2017 despite their release dates coinciding. PNJ actually went on to become the first Pakistani film to topple the 50 crore barrier, topping Jawani Phir Nahi Ani – also a Six Sigma Plus offering, from 2015 – as the most successful movie of all-time, at least in numbers without inflation adjustment.
With 2015’s Bin Roye at third behind PNJ and JPNA, Humayun Saeed now has the three biggest all-time Pakistani hits to his name. However, it was another one of his offerings in 2017 that could rank among the greatest disappointments of the year.
Yalghaar wasn’t the worst film of 2017 by any stretch of the imagination, but easily the one that underachieved the most. Yalghaar was supposed to the next Waar – at least in impact, if not going a level up in script quality – but it was clearly a step down. How successful Arth turns out to be would be determined in the coming weeks, but there’s more than a fair chance that 2017 could turn out to be an underwhelming year for Shaan Shahid, with neither Yalghaar nor Arth quite living up to the hype.
Another film that was a major underachiever was Shoaib Mansoor’s latest: Verna. Considering the subject matter, it was never supposed to be a commercial juggernaut, but given its predecessors – Khuda Ke Liye and Bol – it was, at the very least, supposed to be an attempt at a meaningful production, that would attempt to provide a new narrative on the subject of rape.
Verna eventually was confused about what it wanted to be, and as is often the case when that happens, it turned out to be a bit of a nothing of a film. Even so, instead of the movies that let the fans, and themselves, down 2017 should be remembered for – in addition to the groundbreaking successes of PNJ and NMA2 – for fresh offerings that had both a new brand of filmmaking and budding stars. Both Balu Mahi and Mehrunisa V Lub U had their fair share of flaws, but more importantly offered something contemporary to the rom-com genre in Pakistan.
Both had a slightly different entertainment coefficient, and lead actors that we should regularly see on the biggest screen in the years to come. How the film and music industries overlapped in offering their best to the Pakistani audiences can be seen in some truly great soundtracks throughout the year.
These include Chalay Thay Saath, which absolutely bombed on the box office but had solid music. The same is also true for Verna and Arth, both of whom had top-drawer soundtracks in the background to make up for the many things they lacked in the front. But the year in music outside the film industry was largely about comebacks.
Call released the video for Teri Haar Hum their second music album from 2011, this year. But it was their performance in the Pepsi Battle of Bands, taking Jilawatan – already one of the heaviest Pakistani rock songs – up a few notches that truly whetted the appetite of rock aficionados in the country.
Call are more thumping than ever, and one can’t wait for their next offering. EP performing Hamesha in the Pepsi Battle of the Bands finale also revamped the sound of the band, thanks again in large part to Xulfi who has remain involved with music even if others might have diverged elsewhere. However, it’s still unclear whether that was a one-time reunion, considering the other commitments of Fawad Khan and Ahmed Ali Butt. Farooq Ahmed joined Fawad Khan in the judges’ panel for the Battle of the Bands, and on cue Aaroh too performed Raag Neela in the competition.
But it was the release of their latest track Mein Nahi Manta, that further reinforced that it’s not just new rock blood that’s coming through, but that the previous generation is rebounding with even more thrust. Outside the Battle of the Bands, Coke Studio completed ten seasons with this year’s offering garnering mixed sentiments.
Cornetto Pop Rock’s second season didn’t have much to write home about either, but Levi’s Live 7 had the wonderful one two punch of Roxen and Keeray Makoray. 2017 also had Hadiqa Kiani’s latest album Wajd and Asad Ahmed’s first solo offering Rebirth.
Outside the mainstream E-Sharp released their second album 600 Saal and Those Retards came up with their debut EP Foot Fingers. However, 2017 truly belong to Kashmir, the winners of the Battle of the Bands and how they spearheaded the upsurge of rock bands that is not only motivating those that were involved in the competition and those youngsters jamming for their offerings, but also the now veterans missed by the Pakistani music scene throughout the ongoing decade.
