Khel Khel Mein (2021 film)

Khel Khel Mein
Theatrical release poster
Urdu	کھیل کھیل میں
Directed by	Nabeel Qureshi
Written by	Nabeel Qureshi Fizza Ali Meerza
Produced by	Fizza Ali Meerza
Starring	Sajal Aly Bilal Abbas Khan
Music by	Shuja Haider Asrar Shah Majid Raza
Production company	Filmwala Pictures
Distributed by	ARY Films Eveready Pictures
Release date	19 November 2021 (2021-11-19)
Country	Pakistan
Language	Urdu
Box office	Rs 6.00 crore (US$400,000)

Khel Khel Mein (transl. All in the game) is a 2021 Pakistani historical drama film directed and written by Nabeel Qureshi and produced by Fizza Ali Meerza. It stars Sajal Aly and Bilal Abbas Khan.[1][2] The story of the movie is related to the separation of East Pakistan from West Pakistan in 1971.[3][4] The film was theatrically released on 19 November 2021.[5] The film revolves around a drama club in a university taking its production (based on the 1971 war that led to the breaking away of Bangladesh) to a drama festival in Dhaka.

Plot

Khel Khel Mein revolves around the ever growing myths, mystery and mistrust after the Surrender of Pakistan. The film is a projection of the existing mindset and curiosity around the subject, which is interestingly knit into a journey of students exploring the history and making history by doing not the so obvious and expected, but instead following the path of mutual respect, love and peace for all.[6]

Cast

• Sajal Aly as Zara
• Bilal Abbas Khan[7] as Saad
• Javed Sheikh as Sikandar Salman
• Marina Khan as Mrs. Haque
• Nazr Ul Hasan as Babu
• Manzar Sehbai as Karamullah
• Samina Ahmed as Zaib
• Sheheryar Munawar as Wajih
• Naveed Raza as Vikram
• Irfan Motiwala as Masdodi (Administrator)
• Hani Taha as Maria Yazdani
• Zehra Nawab as Rukhsar
• Farhan Ally Agha as Waji
• Laila Wasti as Zara's Mother
• Reham Rafiq as Noorie
• Mojiz Hasan as Pervaiz
• Hina Rizvi as Hostel's Warden
• Hammad Sheikh as Umang Brohi
• Hira Umer as Brohi's sister
• Hussain Mohsin as Peter
• Ali Rehman as Ali
• Qudsia Ali as Aisha
• Aneesha Altaf as Sara
• Hassan Bin Javed as Saif
• Fayed Ali as Zafar
• Faham Usman as Happy (Team India)

Additionally, Ali Zafar makes a cameo appearance in the film.[8]

Soundtrack

No.	Title	Lyrics	Music	Singer(s)	Length
1.	"Nayi Soch"	Khawaja Danish	Shuja Haider	Shuja Haider, Jabar Abbas, Nida Hussain, Fabiha Hashmi, Maria, Panah, Shehryar, Safeer	2:05
2.	"Zid Pe Ara"	Khawaja Danish	Shani Arshad	Shani Arshad	2:05
3.	"Hum Laye Hain Toofan Se"	Fayyaz Hashmi	Asrar Shah	Asrar	2:38
Total length:					6:48

Release

The teaser of the film was released on 30 October 2021.[9] The teaser received mixed reviews due to the resemblance of the story line with Bollywood's 2006 coming-of-age drama Rang De Basanti.[10] The official trailer was released on 8 November 2021. The film was theatrically released nationwide on 19 November 2021 and was the first film to be released in the country after the COVID-19 lockdown.[11]

Production

On 26 February 2021, Sajal Aly and Bilal Abbas Khan shared on their social media handles that they were leading actors in the film.[12][13] Besides Aly and Khan, Sheheryar Munawar joined the cast for an extended cameo appearance.[14] The cast also includes veterans such as Samina Ahmed, Manzar Sehbai (who played the older version of Munawar), Marina Khan, Javed Sheikh and Farhan Ally Agha.[15] Qureshi revealed about the genre of the film that it will be a historical/ drama, much different to his previous films.[16] On 11 July 2021, Qureshi shared on his social media handle that shooting of film has been completed and it took 50 days to complete.[17]

Reception

Box office

The film collected a total of PKR 25 million worldwide in its first week of release and a total of PKR 60 million in its entire theatrical run. It was the first film to push open the local cinema market after COVID-19 lockdown.[18]

Critical reception

The News International praised the performances of Aly, Sehbai and Munawar but criticised its unauthentic narrative.[19]

Accolades

Ceremony	Categories	Recipients	Winners
21st Lux Style Awards[20]	Best Film	Khel Khel Mein	Won
	Best Film Actor	Bilal Abbas Khan
	Best Film Actress	Sajal Aly
	Best Film Song	Nayi Soch

References

1. "Bilal Abbas Khan, Sajal Aly's 'Khel Khel Mein' to be a historical film". Express Tribune. 26 April 2021. Retrieved 28 October 2021.
2. "Get ready to see Sajal Aly in Khel Khel Mein". The Nation. 3 June 2021.
3. "New Pakistani film to 'truthfully' depict the 1971 Liberation War". Dhaka Tribune. 4 November 2021. Retrieved 9 November 2021.
4. Arts & Entertainment Desk (4 November 2021). "Pakistani film on 1971: How accurate can we expect the depiction to be?". The Daily Star. Retrieved 9 November 2021.
5. "Khel Khel Mein to release on November 19". Cut A Cut. 28 October 2021.
6. "New Pakistani film to 'truthfully' depict the 1971 Liberation War". Dhaka Tribune. 4 November 2021. Retrieved 9 November 2021.
7. "Bilal Abbas Khan to star in Nabeel Qureshi's new film 'Khel Khel Mein'". Daily Times. 28 February 2021. Retrieved 28 October 2021.
8. Mohammad Kamran Jawaid (21 November 2021). "The Icon Review: A Truth Less Told". Dawn. Retrieved 23 November 2021.
9. "Watch: Sajal Aly's 'Khel Khel Mein' teaser out now!". www.thenews.com.pk. 31 October 2021.
10. "Teaser for Sajal, Bilal's 'Khel Khel Mein' is giving serious 'Rang De Basanti' vibes". tribune.com.pk. 1 November 2021.
11. "'Khel Khel Mein' releasing on November 19". Daily Times. 30 October 2021. Retrieved 14 March 2022.
12. "Sajal Aly and Bilal Abbas to share the big screen in Khel Khel Mein". Images. 26 February 2021. Retrieved 28 October 2021.
13. "Sajal Aly to share screen with Bilal Abbas Khan in film 'Khel Khel Mein'". The News. 27 February 2021.
14. "Sheheryar Munawar shares BTS from Khel Khel Mein, says fasting on set helped with method acting". Dawn Images. 27 January 2022.
15. "Historic drama film 'Khel Khel Mein' stars Sajal and Bilal Abbas Khan in lead roles". Daily Times. 24 July 2021.
16. "Nabeel Qureshi reveals genre of 'Khel Khel Mein'". Something Haute. 21 April 2021.
17. "Shooting wraps up for Khel Khel Main". Cut A Cut. 12 July 2021.
18. "Box Office: Khel Khel Mein Brings Back The Festivities". Galaxy Lollywood. 27 November 2021.
19. Maheen Sabeeh (28 November 2021). "In the picture". The News International.
20. "LSA 2022: And the nominees are..." Dawn. 23 November 2022.

External links

• Khel Khel Mein at IMDb