I'll Meet You There - Review (Dubai Theatrical Release 12th August 2021)

 By Hamza Shafique (Instagram / Facebook)

Watching legendary Qavi Khan portraying baba on big screen is an absolute delight and definitely the highlight of " I'll Meet You There ". Presence of Qavi Khan should be the reason enough to visit cinema this week. Iram Parveen Bilal's "I'll Meet You There" is a beautiful effort to tell the story of Desis in USA. 

Jupiter's Legacy - Review

 By Hamza Shafique (Instagram / Facebook)

Netflix’s Jupiter's Legacy is a new addition to superhero streaming TV landscape and since the pandemic we are getting a lot of these and now its super important for the superheroes to standout to get audience attention. I was thinking where does this show fit in the current scope of such shows , we have Marvel shows which rely on loyalty with MCU to bring in the audience while shows like The Boys and Invincible rely on the unique unfiltered anti hero narrative, so what new Jupiter’s Legacy has to offer and to be honest, I am still not very sure about it. 

Invincible - Finale Review (mild spoilers)

 By Hamza Shafique (Instagram / Facebook)

Amazon’s adult animated superhero series Invincible is a perfect blend of convoluted suspenseful storyline, a bunch of new superheroes, some high-school drama, an evil superman like unkillable supervillain and a lot of blood & gore. From the first episode where Omni-Man kills the DC inspired Guardians of Globe to last where he kills immortal in front of the entire world, each episode always ended at higher note than the previous one so I was wondering what more to expect from season finale and am so happy to announce that it doesn’t disappoint. In the recent frenzy of superhero shows like The Boys, Wanda Vision, Falcon and the Winter Soldier etc. Invincible’s finale is the best one so far.

Appreciation Post for ‘Raqeeb Se’

 By Hamza Shafique (Instagram / Facebook)

‘Raqeeb Se’ written by Bee Gul and directed by Kashif Nisar has redefined the romantic story telling on Pakistani mainstream television. An intellectually strong show, that tells relatively simple love story of middle aged multi layered characters, in a poetic yet realistic manner.

Script/Screenplay is the heart of this serial. Every character big or small is superbly written with individual unique aspirations. And what makes this simple story line extraordinary is how these characters interact with each other. On top story line is not linear, even though it may appear linear but past baggage that each character carries makes it complex. Every episode leaves the audience with more questions and theories.

Mortal Kombat - Movie Review

By Hamza Shafique (Instagram / Facebook)

Mortal Kombat is a fantasy action film based on the game of same name. Mortal Kombat as a game has a legacy of 3 decades approx. and a very solid fan base. Storyline and characters in the game are very strong with a potential to start a cinematic universe that can rival Marvel. As a film franchise, Mortal Kombat has always struggled and I believe, the basic challenge director had with this reboot was to create a successful film , with a limited budget of 50 Mil USD only (while lowest budget ever in a marvel film was twice than this -130 Mil USD for Ant Man) and without association of an A list movie star, in order to get studio to greenlight a franchise . From this perspective Simon McQuoid in his feature directorial debut has done a decent job and has created an overall enjoyable experience that caters especially to fans.

Bhoot – Part One: The Haunted Ship : Movie Review

By Hamza Shafique (Instagram / Facebook)

The main reason behind seeing Bhanu Pratap Singh's directorial debut 'Bhoot – Part One: The Haunted Ship' was to see Vicky Kaushal on big screen. I havent seen any of his previous hits in cinema, where critics raved about his acting skills so thought this is my chance but now I believe I should have waited a bit more for his first silver screen impression.

Travel Wisdom - Travelling Alone : Reasons/Justifications

By Hamza Shafique (Instagram / Facebook)

When I sent a picture of me in front of Hagia Sophia in a family WhatsApp group, first response I got was “It's so much better when you visit with your wife " and then the second one was “Only Hamza will go to Cairo and Istanbul alone leaving his loving wife back in Ajman." Not only in my family, but in fact almost everyone asked me the same question that why I travel alone? And my response to all of them is Why Not.

Meera – A Star in Oblivion

By Hamza Shafique (Instagram / Facebook)

Meera with Husband at PISA 2020

Last weekend (7th Feb 2020) we had Pakistan International Screen Awards 2020 the inaugural event in Dubai and it was a big success in many ways. The biggest success element for me was PISA 2020’s ability to bring so many stars from different eras of Pakistan entertainment industry together.
90’s super star and in many ways still one of the biggest crowd pullers of Pakistani Industry, Meera was also in attendance. She was also nominated in Best Actress category for her 2019 release film ‘Baaji’. She was the first one on the red carpet, stayed throughout the event and styled by Rao Ali Khan in outfits by Aleena Fareena, Asma Munir and HSY was one of the best dressed of the night as well.