Shoaib Mansoor’s ‘Bol’ hopes to make a difference

Lately ‘Bol’ has been the talk of the town and so Pakistan Today catches up with the cast members and the director as they narrate their experience.
Humaima Malik, the leading lady of the movie, said, “It was out of this world. The script was so beautiful and I loved doing it. I always wanted to do a Shoaib Mansoor movie and play a very strong character. Working with the ‘Bol’ cast has been an excellent experience. There are difficulties in every project and so there were in this one too, but as far as the cast is concerned we enjoyed a lot. We shot at Lahore’s Victoria School and I call the entire cast my ‘Victoria family’”
As for working under one of the best directors of the country, the protagonist said, “Shoaib is an institute in himself and working with him has been a great learning experience. He has worked very hard on my character and I loved seeing a smile on his face after giving a good shot”.
The self-assured and confident Humaima proclaims, “I think I’ve done justice to my character and since it’s for a good cause I feel proud of myself.”
About other fellow artists she comments, “Atif did not have to work very hard for this movie since he’s a rock star and is playing himself. Amr Kashmiri has done a great job and Mahira was very cute.” As for Iman Ali, Humaima believed, “She has done a good job, but I feel Meera could’ve added some more masala to that role.”
About her future plans she says, “I look forward to pursuing my film career at the moment, though if I come across a good drama script, I’ll take it up too.”
Iman Ali, the movies Meena, prefers not to compare ‘Khuda ke Liye’ to ‘Bol’. As for the cast, “I haven’t interacted much with the cast since I’ve been traveling and so I don’t know much, but I do feel that Atif could have had a longer role. Since it wasn’t an Atif-based film so one can’t really comment on his acting skills yet.” And about the lead lady, “Humaima has done a very good job as far as I’ve heard.”
As for ‘Bol’, Iman stated, “I haven’t seen the movie so I can’t give an opinion, but people should definitely go and watch the movie to support the Pakistani cinema.”
After the premiere of the movie, Atif Aslam spoke to Pakistan Today, “People have been very positive about my acting, but I personally think I can do better. I think that my role was very appropriate. ‘Bol’ isn’t a commercial film and it didn’t require a hero with six- packs. It was not at all about the star and instead focused on a social message.”
On the fact that people think he had a rather short role, Atif believed, “I personally think it was the perfect role. It was short and sweet. Some scenes have been cut from the film, but I’m happy with my role. I’d certainly want to do more films.”
While the cast was excitedly narrating their ‘Bol’ experience, Shoaib was reluctant to talk about it. “If I start talking about ‘Bol’ then I can go on and on without a pause and so I’d rather not speak anything right now. All I had to say, I’ve said it in the two and a half-hour long movie. Over and above that I don’t want to comment. I’ll let people be the judge,” said he.
Whether the movie fares well with the audience or not is a question that time will answer, nonetheless Shoaib must be credited for all the effort he’s put into reviving the Pakistani film industry.