Yalghaar (2017) User Reviews

A sufficient film

[absahmed · 7/10 · 26 June 2017]

I am a fan of the progressive nature that the Pakistani Film industry displays. The movies are now being released more frequently than ever. Although, like this movie very heavily reliant on advertising/product placement, I did not want a certain banks products shoved in my face Choppy editing seems to be the norm for Pakistani movies now, it's almost like they do not have enough budget to do things properly making scenes look incomplete.

The film itself was a tribute to the nation of Pakistan's army, and it did a good job of showing patriotism and giving an insight (if not a very loose insight) into what the young men & women do.

The movie did begin boring, as from the trailers a full on action movie was expected, it did get better and the action increased, also new actors need to be cast, as it's the same bunch of actors that are in every movie; there seemed to be an unnecessary amount of male lead characters, mostly whom are just models jumping on the project to make some extra money!

Excellent subject delivered with low IMPACT

[naxar-fb · 6/10 · 8 July 2017]

Well I went to watch this movie on the 2nd day of its release. I feel, one cannot truly guess the actual reception of a movie in its early days, but being a Pakistan living abroad I could see the shinning eyes of Pakistani viewers for watching a film made in Pakistan, for Pakistan with an effort to give a strong positive image of Pakistan army and show their sacrifices. When you talk about any film or a TV serial made with the help of Pak army (ISPR), it will always have an excellent and well conveyed image of Pakistan army and the efforts our army men are doing for our country against terrorism. Film indeed is having a strong subject, but like other Pakistani movies the direction and editing was again felt to be yet again a weak link in this movie too. We have to cover this weak link of editing as soon as possible. I feel our thinking while editing a film is same as the way we do editing for TV serials. Film has many incomplete scenes while sometimes one scene has no link with the other. For me in order to keep the interest of film viewers intact with the film the relevance between the scenes should remain at all times. Most of the Dialogue delivered were having a strong message which was communicated and appreciated well by the audience, but at number of intervals unnecessary pause within different dialogues tends to slow down pace of film and losing interest. Aim of the film was to highlight the accomplishments of different section of Pak army during Swat operation which were no doubt delivered well as far as action sequences are concerned, but unfortunately not communicated thoroughly with the scenes. Less effort was seen while presenting different structure of Pakistan army portrayed in this movie. Inclusion of unnecessary romantic scenes has not only damaged the subject of this film but also took a lot of running time of film which resulted yet again in creating loads of fuss with ifs and butts with the editing part. No doubt, Comical scenes were light and delivered in brilliant ways and they filled many empty boxes of the film. Unfortunately, the negative character of villain was not portrayed properly, even the ending of the character was shown in a very soft way, without any climax. I mean if you are ending a Lead Villain it should have been done in a difficult way.

When it comes to the action sequences, well movie most of the time showed action by using different weaponry, these were pictured well, action graphics were also well designed. But again poor editing and mixing has overall resulted in low impact. One on one action scenes were either poorly pictured or deliberately shortened for accommodating other useless things. With special reference to the last scenes of finishing the main villain, that particular scene was definitely lagging in showing interested fighting sequence.

Another thing, I would to give a sincere advice to all the movie makers in Pakistan, please keep in mind you are making movie for viewers sitting in Pakistan not for Hollywood. So please try to keep the native language i.e. URDU as your first priority. I simply cannot understand that by having dialogues in English what are we trying to portray. However, even if the directors feel English dialogues are must in some scenes, proper Urdu subtitles can make things much easier for viewers.

In the end, overall yet again a great effort by Pakistan, I agree we are still in revival stage, but at the same time its better we learn things swiftly to mark a lasting impact on our audience.

Remember, Viewers from Pakistan are eagerly waiting for good stuff from Pakistani film makers, but at the same time bear in mind that they have access to other film industries also. So our films should have a unique subjects like this one communicated well with efficient editing efforts.

Keep up the good work!

Good story line with a good mix of action, drama and rom-com

[sunshkh · 7/10 · 11 July 2017]

Im a big supporter of Pakistani cinema and always put an effort to watch Lollywood films that release in North America. I would have to say that I liked this film better than Waar because it had a good mix of romantic comedy, drama, action and emotions. I thought it would just be all about war, fighting and violence but it had much more to the story, which really pleased me.

Generally, I enjoyed the film, but it could have been better. I thought it was decently presented and had an appeal for all ages. However, I do agree with other viewers that the scenes were a bit choppy at parts and could have transitioned better (though I didn't think it was as bad as Bin Roye). Also, I didn't notice the Bank Alfala marketing until a bit later when they kept on showing their VISA cards, but I didn't mind that too much either. For a while I was a tad bit lost in the film because the sense of direction was a bit weak, but it slowly got back on track.

I particularly liked the ending and the way they made a tribute to all of those who lost their lives in the Peshawar tragedy. May they all rest in peace.

Pakistan Zindabad <3

Great Movie. Captures the true spirit of Sacrifice, Jazba, Junoon and above all, the Emaan (belief) of Officers and Jawans of Pakistan Army. WELL DONE !

[ahson-tariq · 8/10 · 26 June 2017]

Had high expectations about YALGHAAR and wan't disappointed watching a movie which reflects the improving standards of our local cinema productions. In all fairness, cinema-goers should not be comparing our improving local productions with Hollywood's action flicks yet, instead should appreciate the fact that the quality of our local productions is improving and improving fast.

The movie successfully achieves it's aim of highlighting the spirit of Sacrifice, Jazba, Junoon and above all, the Emaan (belief) of Officers and Jawans of Pakistan Army. It successfully brings forth the experiences that the family members of a soldier go through on a every day basis.

The movie started appropriately right from the word go standing true to it's nature and keeping the audience glued for the first ten to fifteen minutes with the opening action scene. The quality of action scene shooting was much better and improved than Waar (for comparison sake) and on several occasions comparable with any top of the line Hollywood production. Aerial photography tools (drones) were very effectively used and added depth to the canvas. Almost each scene and dialogue seemed to have a purpose and didn't seemed like force-fitted in the movie. Comic relief was sprinkled around in the movie very appropriately and the humour seemed true to the culture in army. Reminded me of Alpha, Bravo, Charlie.

Waqar Rana seems to fit the General's role well and does a good job on screen, as do most of the other actors and actresses (exceptions mentioned below).

If you're a patriotic Pakistani or like action movies, you must go and watch this movie.

On the "Things that could be improved" front, following are my observations:

CGI - While the CGI was top notch in most areas, small firearms shooting is something which looks great only when done in "real" and not through computer graphics.

EDITING - still requires major improvement. Some scenes were cut and/or joined with next scenes, too abruptly.

ACTING - should be kept as close to being natural as possible. There were times when one felt that the acting was overdone.

ADVERTISEMENT / PRODUCT PLACEMENT: Too much right-in-the-face. Should be avoided in future.

HUMAYOU SAEED: Just doesn't fit the "Villain" role, especially the kind of negative role which this movie's script demanded.

SHAAN: While he's a legend and has a great screen presence, it is high time that producers and directors start relying on fresh(er) blood. There's great talent around and should be used.

TOO MANY MESSAGES/ACTORS/STORIES: There were too many Stories with too many Characters giving so many messages within this single movie. This movie will be watched by all types of cinema-goers and not everyone would be able to keep track of it all and might seem lost, like the gentleman sitting on my left (at Nueplex) felt yesterday night whilst the gentleman on my right was totally comfortable with the plethora of messages being thrown at him.

FINAL VERDICT: This movie is another step by our local cinema in the right direction and based on what I watched last night, I am anticipating it to be a bigger success than WAAR. Kudos to the team which produced this movie. WELL DONE !

Amazing Movie and Tribute to Pakistan Army

[rais-75020 · 9/10 · 26 June 2017]

Watch this movie and you will not be disappointed at all. Although there are some issue which need to be addressed in future like product promotions in movie (Bank Alflah) casting wrong actor like Humayun Saeed is a poor romantic hero with soft acting, so he was not a good option for negative role s a major terrorist Ameer.

Action Movie, Story was good

[abeerahrana · 7/10 · 8 July 2017]

Good Effort but still they need to work more on dialogues and how to present story. Acting was nicely done by most of the actors. Humayon Saeed was not looking suitable for this role, someone else could done this role better then him. Bilal & Shan acting was good, they did justice with their roles. In short, the movie was average. Must watch to support Pakistani cinema.

A good story not presented well

[ahmadbilal-95808 · 3/10 · 27 June 2017]

Undoubtedly the stories of men from Pakistan army fighting against terrorism are at the same time thrilling, sad, courageous and of sacrifice for a true cause. The hard part is to show the same emotions and situations that they went through, on the screen. Unfortunately, in my opinion the movie couldn't grab the audience's attention and there were only 2-3 moments in the 2.5 hours where i felt involved in the story. Lets start with the acting first, only good acting and expressions can give power to your dialogues and with a movie like this where you want to get emotionally attached to the amazing story acting needs to be real good but sadly many actors and actresses seemed to be lacking expressions and emotions. Similarly, choosing the right person for a specific character needs to be focused now days. Looking at Holly wood auditions one can learn how they find such good actors that fit the role perfectly but in the movie especially the role of Humayun Saeed was i thought a big misfit along with some others which showed it wasn't under consideration of the makers. At last, how to carry the story is the most important challenge for such a movie and it felt that the makers failed at it big time, the linking of scenes to reach a climax and then ending the story was really poor. I felt lost during the movie except those 2-3 scenes so, it was a good story that was not shared effectively.

Army at their Best

[kashifkhaira · 10/10 · 17 July 2017]

Remarkable movie. Giving TIRBUTE to all MARTYRS of Pakistan. BRILLIANTLY presented. Hope to see such more movies. Story line was great. The way Hunayoun Saeed acted that was exquisite. Shooting at the same place where it was effected because of Terrorism. True Story based I wish Best of Luck to Director Hassan Rana the way he directed. I would rate this 10/10. After WAAR, MAALIK, YALGHAAR IS BEST.

Under cooked stake

[sameday-28000 · 6/10 · 26 June 2017]

Watched Yalghaar today. Despite wanted to love every bit of it, I must say it was a pain to watch.Opening scene of the movie (20 minutes approximately ) was absolutely top notch, honestly speaking they even left Hollywood behind but as the movie progresses you know straight away that it is being prolonged forcefully. Many unnecessary scenes, bad editing, over exaggerated dialogues, bad female casting (uzma khan is serious as hell without any apparent reason, Sana is wearied ans Aisha Omar cries throughout the movie with a very bad irritating way which annoys you)

Umair tried hard to be funny but failed big times, Hassan Rana should not act and specially as an Army General, Bilal Ashraf was good but annoying and unnecessary dialogue delivery, gohar rasheed was bad and sikander rizvi was worst, shaan and hamayun were good but at times fake tones but great expressions, Villain was portrayed too strong but final fight only lasts only a minutes and he is killed with ease. Many scenes in the middle were not linking up, like it was all over the place. Not a smooth ride at all. Perhaps with this great start they should have kept the movie short, simple and to the point. The whole movie should have been wrapped up within 95 minutes with precise story line. They should have focused more on the climax and final fight between Hamayun and Shaan. Death scene of bilal ashraf was great but bloody hell he was not dying easily, kept shaking for few minutes. Movie could have been a masterpiece but they wasted it. First 20 minutes were awesome and last couple of scenes were good but overall a very expensive dish but not well cooked. Waar was better. Saying that it was still better than the crap Bollywood as they have completely lost it.

Its better to burn away your money

[tsmegadeth · 1/10 · 29 June 2017]

So the most anticipated Pakistani movie of 2017, a ray of hope for the slowly surviving cinema industry was no less than a disaster. I cannot even begin how awful the movie was. If there was any number less than 1 i would gladly give it that. So the movie is about a true story which begins with the Swat operations when the insurgents took over the peaceful region and enforced their barbaric laws over there. The movie begins with a glimpse of a rescue operation in which an MI operative, Col Jogezai (Ayub Khosso) is being taken by the Taliban (Bad guys) and is being tortured for information. The protagonist of the movie Col Asad (Shaan Shahid) and his team of brave SSG soldiers (frankly everyone else is captain and not a single major, Lt., 2nd Lt., or any soldier) among the team. Now the movie shifts towards the antagonist of the movie Torjan (inspired from the virus Trojan, played by Humayun Saeed) is shown as a psychotic, anarchist, sadist, probably the most villainous of villains in the entire history of villains i am yet to see in movies. He kidnaps one of the local girl Zarmina (Ayesha Omer) on her wedding day by slaughtering the entire family, showing his evil intentions. Now comes the second Colonel of the movie Col Imran (played by Adnan Siddique) who is from the infantry corps who nobody gives a damn about but he loves his wife very much who happens to be impregnated while he was on duty (RIIIGGHHHT). A joint operation with two Colonel and a Maj general and bunch of captains. So much logic, much confusion, wow (Doge reference) Anyways the final battle begins, the infantry leads the frontal assault while the SSG leads a more specified target, search and destroy Torjan, while the aviation leads with two night stalkers and one MI7 helicopters and gunships to provide air support. While our men are out there fighting on the battlefield, our ladies in arms are praying for safe returns of our brave laddies (women empowerment). And in all this battle and bloodshed, Mrs col Imran (who was pregnant) feels the needs to deliver. And during this delivery the most obvious stuff happens, Col Imran dies. He dies while saving his platoon Commander (PC Butt sahib) who was none other than a little comic character in the movie. Butt sahib went into the firing zone in order to cut out an IED line and gets shot in the kidney, and watching this horror, Col Imran dives into the battle chanting

BUUUUUUUUTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTT

and while we as audience are in the middle of this battle, Zarmina, the poor little girl, is saved by Baran and they are on the loose, however, Baran met his demise by the guy who calls him "Khassi". Anyways back to the battle. Col Asad asks his team that one of us has to take up an RPG and fire at those machine guns to suppress the heavy attack so that they can lead the assault. Mind you that the three FREAKING gunships are in still in the air and THERE ARE NO ANTI-AIRCRAFT resistance from the ground. They could just ROAST THEM but No, Captain Bilal (played by Bilal Ashraf)takes up the RPG walks half a mile into this supposedly heavy firing and fires straight into the bunker. However he is being shot and his last will is to kill Torjan. Col Asad asks his men to stand down, goes into a Chakka (CS/COD reference) Knife fight and eventually killing him (FATALITY). So in the end we have two martyrs (Col Imran and Captain Bilal) who are given quite a stand off. Captain Bilal uniform is given to his girlfriend(Instead of his parents) and the movie ends with forcing us to appreciate the countless contribution of the Pak Army.

THE END

Major Chutype k moments that i would like to mention:

1. There is three Maj Generals, Three Colonels, seven Captains in the entire freaking movie. Mind you the hierarchy of Pakistan army in the ascending order is: 2nd Lt. > Lt. > Captain > Major > Lt Colonels/Full Colonels, Brig, Maj Gen 2. There are only two arms (Infantry and Aviation) and two services group (Military intelligence and medical services) neglecting over dozen of arms and services group. Bravo 3. When there is no ground or aerial resistance, why not invite our Air force lads to bomb them. Or better still, why not bombard them with our Artillery arms? 4. WHY ON EARTH IS A MAJOR GEN FLYING THE MOST WEAPONIZED MACHINE IN AVIATION? 5. How come MI sends a Colonel in hard areas for information every time? 6. Why drone (shown couple of times) were not send to get aerial vision during surveillance before the final attack 7. Why Torjan has absolutely no BACK UP PLAN!!!! 8. Why there was Just A SINGLE IED mine/trap as a defensive counter measure against army 9. WHY EVERY TALIBAN IS SHOWN EITHER A PATHAN OR A MOLVI? 10. WHY EVERY ARMY GUY IS RANTING ABOUT EITHER HIS SENIOR, HIS GF OR THE COURSES THAT AWAITS IN THE FUTURE.

Nonetheless the movie had Pakistan's best actors from film, drama and GEO TV, showing us that host of reality programs are basically actors themselves. However, concluding the movie, it was one of the worst ISPR funded piece of art i have ever experienced and i am confident that nothing can be worse than this. I am glad that the movie managed to recover the cost spend on it, and i don't have to see some military court martial in response to the damage this movie has brought on this good earth. Gauge your eyes with a spoon and watch any Micheal Bay movie cause this movie is not the revival but the delusion of Pakistani Cinema

Extremely fantastic

[mohammedhumair · 10/10 · 28 June 2017]

This movie at start did find it quite boring but when I looked into it i regret thinking like that it was really emotional I didn't get one point but if I get an idea I will realize it was the point where that guy loved that doctor did he die I was literally in tears for what I saw I didn't expect traitors in our own country like seriously the way they killed people whilst reading Namaz like why and I found that all soldiers read the Kalimah before dying which was tearful.

A decent effort!

[atifb · 7/10 · 3 July 2017]

Lets get it straight: Yalghaar isn't Perfect, but have enough to provide solid Entertainment.

Yalghaar was always supposed to be a tribute to The Army; some Insight to what they think and feel, how the plan and conduct their operations. That has been said many time by the director. So in that regard the Movie does well. It gives you goosebumps in the end and make you think how important their job is.

So what went wrong? 1) As many have said the story lacked Depth. Its pity that Hassan Rana couldn't build more around Humayuns character. It would have given the Movie and story much more drive.

2) Some scenes and characters didn't make sense. Neither to we really know what Gohar did. Sana Bucha wasn't event shown during operation, so her role didn't make any Logic.

3)Movies overall editing was decent, but some scenes was just fitted in w/o any Logic.

What was good? 1) The action or war scenes. As much People want to compare With Hollywod the action scenes were brilliant done. The last sequences gives you goosebumps.

2)The acting: All actors did well apart from the females who had minimal role. Shaan, Bilal Ashraf, Humayun, Gohar and the pilot guy ( don't remember his name) were all on the mark. Humayun as bad guy was on the spot despite the Limited story.

3) The Music. Now I want to really question the critics taste of Music as many said it was bad. Like what? The Movie has 5 songs and all are brilliant. The background score was also more then decent.

4) It somehow deliver its Message: Despite whats reported...the purpose of the movie was to display Armys effort in war of terror. The Movie gives you good dose of patriotism and shows exactly that.

Poor Editing / Lacking Originality

[zoomer-25015 · 1/10 · 29 June 2017]

So I went to the cinema to catch a glimpse of this hyped up movie which many of the cast actors were sharing on the TV interviews. I finally sat down and the movie started.

Now I won't give out spoilers but I should say the crying of the actresses and the choppy editing where you can clearly see the scenes missing was a big turn off.

It happens around 5 - 8 times during the whole movie where certain cuts were placed. Lack of proper editing. No doubt that the camera equipment used was good the production quality was at par with good movies out there but the scene deduction the fake (looking) ammunition scenes and stupidity of the actors were quite visible.

And yes too much product placement from the Banks in the movie. I mean if your budget was 3 Million US$ still I think and a better movie can be put out.

Some funny scenes/talk sequences were good enough to laugh about for a bit. On the other hand, the over-all army interaction (which by the way gained this review a 4-star rating) reminded me of a good ole' Alpha Bravo Charlie Days of PTV.

Goods and Bads

[zee_redscorpio · 8/10 · 1 July 2017]

Good things first; Cinematography, Graphics/Sounds, Action, Thrill, Gadgetry/Weapons, Costumes/Uniforms, Acting, Humour

Bad things; A bit compromised story, Didn't show true pic of army family lives back at home, Sequence of events, Excessive military operations throughout the film

Entertaining and perfect

[asadmansha-59194 · 9/10 · 26 June 2017]

film is perfect having action, romance, emotions and laughter. It will really entertain you. I was not expecting any laughter but its simple jokes really cracked me. They were showing different stories behind each character rather focusing on a single character. Beautiful locations were outstanding and perfectly captured.There should be any other villain except hmayun with tough looks and aggressive mood. Some people want more action and others want more emotions but everything was enough in this movie.

Just tarnishing the word revival of cinema

[hadi-rehman · 1/10 · 13 August 2017]

If this is revival of cinema then it was better not to revive let it be dead . Manto and Moor were one of finest works of Pakistani cinema . And this comes . I am not against action films but there was no plot and in fact it wasn't a film . It looked like footage gathered and edited with dialogues . There was no technicalities it was just show off mess look we can do this hey look we also have this look OH MY GOD SLOW MOTIOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOON.....!!!! .Made army look stupid. There are better stories to tell . Just a freaking mafia in industry making us audience look stupid . We are no Hollywood , no Indian industry we can have our identity in film industry

Great Movie.

[abubakarsattar · 10/10 · 29 June 2017]

Excellent Movie. Movie Plot, Story and Direction are also Fantastic. All Film Actors worked great. It's 4th day from release but all Cinemas are still House Full. Love to Watch this Movie again. Shan Shahid once again gave Excellent Performance. Hamaiyon Saeed also did great Performance. In short this is a great Movie.

Way to Go

[farrukhraza-92503 · 1/10 · 3 July 2017]

Our cinema really needs to learn how to summarize the movie to mere 2- 2.5 hours. You cannot just start 5-6 different stories within a movie and leave them without proper ending. Too many useless and unrelated things in the movie. Horrible acting by 50% of the cast. I do not know how is this the highest budget movie of Pakistan.

Overall Good job

[gujjar-waqas · 10/10 · 2 July 2017]

Its a good movie. Pros: very patriotic, emotional, male character did good job

Cons: Poor direction, pakistani cinema gotta come our of drama-type- movie, poor shorts...

for friends: do watch and support pakistani cinema

The worst Yalgaar

[imran-shafi · 1/10 · 1 July 2017]

I must say that till the time we don't bring the originality in our movies depicting our real social and Islamic values, we can never get good output. This movie is an example of the worst depiction of our social and Islamic values. For God sake, where in Pakistan Army, such officers exist. I didn't like War and its even worst. I request to stop making such things if you cant be what you are

Emotional

[nabsmalik · 9/10 · 3 July 2017]

An emotional tale of the Pakistani army's courage and patriotism with romance and humour thrown in to lighten the mood. A movie that stays with you long after you have left the cinema. The first Pakistani movie I have ever been to see on the big screen, I will keep watching out for new releases.

well presented and covered the main subject

[rohailaslam · 10/10 · 27 December 2017]

Actually this movie is great every one done their role in a manner way and you guys done really great job keep it up

Probably one of the top 5 worst movies I've ever seen.

[dthmate219 · 1/10 · 2 July 2017]

The only reason i'm writing a review is that people don't waste their time and money on this "disappointment". WAAR was a good movie and unfortunately I had my hopes up for Yalgaar. Long story short its the same as Waar and I MEAN LITERALLY THE SAME! just with a different cast. It would have been a hell of a lot better if..... I don't know THE WRITER HAD A FRESH STORY!!! WASTED HARD EARNED MONEY TODAY.

An awesome movie

[drpbajwa · 10/10 · 15 August 2017]

I won't write a detail review , but I would like to share my view only. It is an awesome movie. It is very close to reality as it shows the true lives of Pakistani forces fighting against the current situation in the country. All actors did their roles brilliantly. I would say I watched a SUPER movie after a long time.

A poor propaganda movie

[adilashary · 4/10 · 9 July 2017]

It is good action movie, but very superficial on account of the story line. The terrorists leader looked like a goon or some local thug rather than any organized terror group like Taliban, etc. He did not appear to have any broader internal or external connections. The family lives of army officers were shows only and then mostly their heroic stories. The women of the officers shown were very upper class and appeared to be phony. Almost no mention of soldiers and their families.