Globally extolled feature film 'Gumm' is a visual treat for intelligent cinemagoers

'Gumm' being made of a moderate budget is capable to compete with many other films across globe.

(Web Desk) - Majority of film makers in the budding industry of Pakistan consider it to be their birth right to follow ‘The Mighty Bollywood’. The glamorous Bollywood is all about three things:

Money, Money and The Money!

With a market of merely 129 screens in Pakistan as against to 9000 screens in India contributing a whopping sale of over Rs4 billion tickets per year, the act of mimicking Bollywood films is absolutely incomparable. With that limited market, Pakistan cannot - not to mention, should not - make films that are Bollywoodish. So what choice are we left with then?

The equitable answer is to make ‘content’ based projects. That’s one thing that Bollywood lacks in most of its films and we can target niche across the globe by playing our cards well here. Talking of content, all I can think of are films like Cake and the latest release ‘Gumm’ which is exceedingly unique, content driven, original, technically sound and most important of all intelligent cinema.

Being a fantastic film is not what makes it different, it has rather set stone of finding Pakistani cinema’s own style and genre. The failure of such a film would mean that no filmmaker in Pakistan will dare to explore new cinema and keep filming the miserable side kick of Bollywood for the ages to come.

‘Gumm’ being made of a moderate budget is capable to compete with many other films across globe by being unique. It tells a simple story in a beautiful way that turns out to be extremely relatable. It deserves 5 stars for being daring to try something new and this distinguishing factor has made it won 7 awards and 15 plus nominations at various award ceremonies across globe.

‘Gumm’ showcases excellent colour grading that complements the story, daring cinematography that translates the situations perfectly and western style editing. It marks the introduction of the super talented directors, Ammar Lasani and Kanza Zia, in the Pakistani cinema, who did a marvelous job by launching modern techniques of filmmaking in a budding industry like ours.

‘Gumm’ is a wonderful film, so unique that it doesn’t have a parallel in its genre, at least not in Pakistan. It involves you, makes you smile, cry and empathize for its characters. It has a hint of comedy, beautiful songs, strong background music, visual storytelling and strongest performances.

‘Gumm’ explores relationships and emotions like they have been explored never before.

The film begins with Asad (Sami Khan) trapped in a car with a bag full of money, a dead body on his side and to add to his dilemma, no memory. The very start intrigues you. He encounters paths with Haider, the dagger (Shamoon Abbasi), who claims the money. The story continues with a cat and mouse chase, overlapped by flashbacks of Asad’s memories, where he regains his memory.

One of the strengths of ‘Gumm’ is the quality of performances. Sami Khan as Asad and Shamoon Abbasi as Haider were the stars of the show with what I believe were the performances of their lifetime. The understated kid, Alizey Tahir as Laiba, performed really well too. The duo stole the show with bold cinematography and direction. A relationship between father and daughter, that has not been explored before in Pakistani cinema, was the strongest point of the film. The character arcs and the technique of revelation of the story were tremendous.

‘Gumm’ has its share of flaws too. One of those are the dialogues of the film. A lot could have been done on that end to make the situations more impactful. Shameen Khan as Dua, had a limited role but she played her part well.

However, she has a week screen presence and she could have been replaced with better choice. The fight sequences were raw and violent. The second half of the film was stronger than the first one, probably because the first part revealed the backstory.

The few shortcomings of ‘Gumm’ are ignorable in budding industry of Pakistan. All in all, ‘Gumm’ is an appreciable attempt at developing intelligent cinema in Pakistan, offering a break from usual formula films. ‘Gumm’ is a treat, a must watch – at least once – as it has the ability to mature the cinemagoer. 

Written By: Noor Akbar Chishti