Pakistani actors ready to fly high...

Dubai - ... as their aerial combat film Parwaaz Hai Junoon gets set to release in the UAE soon

PAKISTANI ACTOR HAMZA Ali Abbasi wants to make it clear that his upcoming release Parwaaz Hai Junoon which is a tribute to the Pakistan Air Force is not a propaganda film.  Somehow, most military movies tend to take sides  - presenting one side as absolutely righteous and the other side as the absolute evil. 
"The best part of this film is that we are not against any country. We are focusing on the bigger war that Pakistan is part of. We feel that the world does not recognise us for what we truly are. The world is a safer place literally thanks to Pakistan. We have lost hundreds of thousands of lives because of  the war that we fought (against terrorism). We have been bearing the brunt of this war... We want other governments to understand that we are not the perpetrators of war, in fact, we are the victims and we are the main force which has defeated global terrorism and we want the world to recognise that," said lead star Hamza Ali Abbasi while talking to City Times. Hamza, along with his Parwaaz Hai Junoon co-stars Ahad Raza Mir, Hania Amir, Shaz Khan and producer Momina Duraid, were at the Khaleej Times' office recently to talk about their moviewhich releases in the UAE during the Eid weekend.
The cast told us that Parwaaz Hai Junoon is the Pakistani Air Force's first venture into cinema. The makers wanted to show the modern face of  the Pakistani Air Force to the world through their film. 
"I am playing the role of squadron leader Hamza in the movie," Abbasi told us. "Any Pakistani will be proud of this film and we want all the Pakistanis to think about the sacrifices that the Air Force has made in this war against terror. We are the only country after Sri Lanka who has faced a war of this kind and has emerged victorious. That's an achievement that we all need to be thankful for. If you are not a Pakistani and you watch the film then I hope many misconceptions about our country will be cleared," added Hamza while describing the movie.  
Hania Amir plays the role of a female cadet in the movie and the actress spoke in detail about her preparation for the role. 
"We would wake up really early and have breakfast with the cadets. We would do the daily drills along with them. From -21 degrees to +40 degrees, we have worked really hard with them at various temperatures. I spent a lot of time with the officers and the cadets, hence I could respect the uniform that we wore much more. I spoke to so many officers who were part of the military simply because of the love for the country. Knowing all that, it was a burden to wear the uniform as I wanted to make sure that I give proper justice while portraying their lives in front of the camera," said Hania.
"It is a fact that the Pakistani Air Force is one of the few in the world to have the highest ratio of female combat pilots. It is the only Air Force in the Muslim world which has female combat pilots," added Hamza. "We are not trying to portray the positive image of Pakistan but we are trying to portray the real image of Pakistan. We want to show the language, landscape, culture and beauty of Pakistan. 
"Parwaaz Hai Junoon is our attempt to take Pakistan to the world through our cinema because unfortunately our introduction to the world has only been through the news channels and that's not a really good introduction. So that's what we are hoping for and praying for. 
"This film is not about just bombs, planes and war but also about entertainment. Through Parwaaz Hai Junnon, we are hoping that we can convey all these messages," concluded Hamza. 
Ahad Raza Mir and Shaz Khan said that the movie focuses on the human side of the military. Ahad plays a flight lieutenant cadet in the film. "Parwaaz Hai Junoon explores the Pakistani Air Force in a way no other movie industry has shown before. You get to see the psyche and the human side of a pilot. This is inherently a Pakistani film about the Air Force but we focused on comedy, romance, and music. I have lived abroad half of my life and I had a different idea of Pakistan while growing up and when I actually went there and started working, I realised that Pakistan is so different from what we think about the country. I realised that Pakistan is represented so wrongly abroad," said Ahad Raza Mir. 
His co-star Shaz also echoed his thoughts and added that he wants Pakistani youth who live in other countries to get a glimpse of the real Pakistan. "I am playing a squadron leader in the film. I am the emotional backbone of the film. I think it is very important for Pakistani youth to see this film, and not just in Pakistan. We want Pakistani youth from across the world to see this film. I am from the United States and I have spent half my life there and I had some misconceptions about Pakistan which I later found out weren't accurate, hence I want other Pakistani youths from different countries to get the real perspective of the country through this film. I want them to see the true face of Pakistan and it might even encourage them to visit the country."
The actors told us that in most war movies, they tend to portray soldiers as righteous supermen who do not feel fear and are perfect human beings and that is why this film is different. "I am extremely happy that this is not one of those films as we are trying to show the real side of the military. We are showcasing that military officers can be funny, romantic, they can be scared and they have their weaknesses as well. They are humans like us. We must stop portraying them as terminators, robocops who are just supposed to fight hard and then die. We have shown soldiers having fear. When we say courage, it doesn't mean the absence of fear. It is the presence of fear and yet the will to fight a war. This is not one of those stereotypical films like Superman. 
"Our film shows the true emotions of soldiers and I think this should be a new trend in South Asia. It is sad that generally in our films, we show soldiers as perfect superhumans which kind of dehumanises them. The credit goes to the Pakistani Air Force for giving us access to some of their top sites which gave us a real insight into their lives," said Hamza.
 
arti@khaleejtimes.com