Parwaaz Hai Junoon trailer sets pace for soaring flight

The trailer of Momina and Durraid’s big tribute to Pakistan Air Force finds Hamza Ali Abbasi in the lead, doing what he likes best, pitching for country and flag. There’s a powerful patriotic feel to the trailer as though the film is a directorial debut of Haseeb Hasan, who lets all systems go into creating a dash of action sequences in the air with fighter pilots taking the centre-stage.“When a country calls out to you, you can’t hear anything else,” says Hania Amir, the young starlet who made her acting debut with Pakistani film Janaan (2016) and later shot into prominence for playing Parri in Na Maloom Afraad 2 (2017), to a panel of selection committee on submitting US citizenship as she sets her foot in the final interview call for joining Pakistan Air Force. But wait. If you think this is a routine schmaltz and struggle about an air force officer who wants to serve the country, then there is more here to feast on. Parwaaz Hai Junoon looks nothing like any previously released tribute film to Pakistani forces.  The team, if you must know, looks dependable and appealing. Never before have so many young actors been cast for a Pakistani film. Over the past few years, experienced hands have been called upon to play the central roles whilst the new ones only used as supporting cast, but for PHJ, the opposite is true. Hamza Ali Abbasi, Hania Aamir and Ahad Raza Mir play the leads while Shaz Khan and Kubra Khan play supporting roles along with Syed Shafaat Ali, Arsalan Asad Butt and Sabeena Syed to name a few. This film features the veteran Asif Raza Mir and Marina Khan, the country’s favourite TV heartthrob of the 80s, for the very first time on celluloid. And considering the attention Asif Raza Mir’s son, Ahad, has been getting recently, drawing comparisons with his father, it’s a pleasant surprise for the father-son duo to be sharing screen space.  “Women are afraid of lizards and cockroaches; they can never fly a fighter jet,” Ahad Raza Mir says to Hania Amir as she falls during the training sessions at Pakistan Airforce Academy. It takes time to gather strength for everyone in some form. Doesn’t it? Not this time! Parwaaz Hai Junoon has winner, strength and bravery written on every frame. The trailer screams for attention as patriotic sounds merge into visuals of the furling-unfurling flags and green uniforms.  Be it the aerial shots or locations where the film has been shot, everything seems picture perfect. The aerial shots where fighter pilots are shown in war action may give their compatriots the goosebumps with pop nationalism in full swing.Farhat Ishtiaq, the writer of the film, seems to have had added some comic sequences to the film as well, just to lighten up the screen. The trailer also features a song Nachay Re, a wedding sequence that gives definite nostalgic space to Bin Roye’s Balle Balle that we have seen before. All the colours and vibrant silhouettes give every frame a very high-end appeal to happiness and celebration. It’s not really possible that a HUM film passes off without featuring romance and drama. Drawing parallel with the action sequences, the film also carries some romance and drama, shot along the lines of beautiful locations in Pakistan. But we really hope it’s not a typical triangle love story as the trailer suggests.  PHJ has a warm rugged feel to every frame winning against all odds featuring conflict, resolution, love, drama, hope and life. The film is scheduled to release on Eid ul Azha.