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NDTV
6 days ago
- Entertainment
- NDTV
Why Fawad Khan's Maula Jatt Is Called The Sholay Of Pakistan
What Sholay did for India, The Legend of Maula Jatt did for Pakistan, says Nadeem Mandivalla, one of the biggest exhibitors in the neighbouring country. In an exclusive interview with NDTV, Nadeem Mandviwalla said when Ramesh Sippy's Sholay released in 1975, its gradual success turned the tide for Indian exhibition business, taking the market valued at Rs 5 crore to Rs 20 crore. With barely 60 cinemas across the country and a declining film industry in Pakistan, it is the Fawad Khan-starrer The Legend of Maula Jatt that is still playing Pakistani cinemas even after almost three years after its release. It's the highest earning Pakistani film of all time with Rs 125 crore in box office earnings, making it an "unbelievable" feat, he added. Sholay had a star-studded cast of Dharmendra, Amitabh Bachchan, Sanjeev Kumar, Amjad Khan, Hema Mailini, and Jaya Bachchan. It follows a former police officer Thakur who hires two outlaws called Jai and Veeru to capture the notorious bandit Gabbar Singh who kills his family in cold blood. The Legend of Maula Jatt, based on Pakistani folklore, too featured the who's who of Pakistani film industry. Besides Fawad Khan, the film starred Mahira Khan, Hamza Ali Abbasi, Humaima Malik, Gohar Rasheed, and Ali Azmat, among others. In the movie, Maula Jatt (Fawad Khan) takes on his arch nemesis and the leader of a brutal clan, Noori Natt (Hamza Ali Abbasi). The Legend Of Maula Jatt - Pakistan's Own Sholay Nadeem Mandviwalla told NDTV that The Legend of Maula Jatt is "Pakistani Sholay". "For us, in 75 years, we finally made a Sholay. We had made great films but we hadn't made a Sholay. Now, I can say we have a Sholay of our own. There are two-three films in India that changed the course (of Indian cinema). "The concept of your market being Rs 25 crore and it suddenly becomes a market of Rs 100 crore that was a game changer, which Sholay did in 1975 -- from a Rs 5 crore market to a Rs 20 crore market. After Sholay, Maine Pyar Kiya came in 1989 and then Hum Aapke Hain Koun..! in 1994. India couldn't believe they could have a market of Rs 100 crore, now you're at Rs 500 crore," he said. Pakistan could have never thought about making more than Rs 50 crore in terms of its film market. " Maula Jatt is now playing at Rs 125 crore (PKR) in Pakistan with 60 cinemas. It's unbelievable," added the distributor, who backed the film via Mandviwalla Entertainment. The Shock And Awe Factor That Unites Sholay And The Legend Of Maula Jatt Besides superb box office performances, what also makes one compare Sholay and The Legend of Maula Jatt is the feeling of shock and awe the audiences were washed by after they watched both the movies when they released. According to Nadeem Mandviwalla, when he released The Legend of Maula Jatt in 2022 in his theatres, " Sholay was the reference" he used while talking about the Pakistani movie. "Bilal Lashari has made two films in Pakistan. One was in 2013, it was called Waar and in 2022, we released The Legend Of Maula Jatt. Both the films were distributed by our company in Pakistan. So, when I saw the film with Bilal, I told him that there are different ways of looking into films. "How the public sees them. There are very few films in the world which create an element which is rare. I told him Waar had an awe factor and that was enough for the people to come to the theatres. It's a very, very rare case in the world where pictures create a shock factor and you can just pinpoint those films in the world where the audience has gone into shock..." When the viewer is shocked by a film, they go silent, added the Karachi-based exhibitor. "You don't say anything because you are unable to digest what you have seen. That it has gone beyond your expectations. Sholay was that. In the interviews, Ramesh Sippy said that in the first week, they thought the picture was a flop so they stopped producing the prints. Then suddenly everything changed... "This is what exactly happened with Maula Jatt. The Pakistani public went into shock (after watching the film) that 'How can Pakistan make a picture of this calibre'. We don't have a market to make a picture of this calibre," he recalled. The Legend Of Maula Jatt - The Reimagining Sholay was set in Ramgarh, a fictional village, and was primarily shot in and around the town of Ramanagara, Karnataka. The Legend of Maula Jatt may be an adaptation of the 1979 Lollywood film Maula Jatt, but unlike its predecessor, the film is not set in Punjab, said Nadeem Mandviwalla. "The brilliance of Bilal Lashari in that film was how he presented those characters 30-40 years later... The original film was all real Punjab. Bilal Lashari's film is no Punjab. It's all fictional. You can't say which Punjab or era is this and that became its biggest beauty. He went into Game of Thrones and Gladiator." It may be a film from across the border but The Legend of Maula Jatt has some similarities with Sholay. Nadeem Mandviwalla came close to releasing the Fawad Khan-starrer in India, his last attempt being October 2, 2024. Sholay released for the first time in Pakistan in 2015 after a generation already watched the film on VCR and TV through re-runs. But Indian audiences are yet to watch The Legend of Maula Jatt in Indian cinemas.
NDTV
11-08-2025
- Entertainment
- NDTV
Why Diljit Dosanjh's Sardaar Ji 3 Became Pakistan's Biggest Blockbuster After Fawad Khan's The Legend Of Maula Jatt
Punjabi singer-star Diljit Dosanjh's Sardaar Ji 3 landed in hot water after Pakistani star Hania Aamir's casting in the movie came to light. That the revelation was made months after the Pahalgam terror attack didn't help either. Following the controversy, the film skipped the release in India and hit the big screen across the globe, including Pakistan. And this is how India's loss became Pakistan's gain. Nadeem Mandviwalla, one of the biggest exhibitors of Pakistan who released Sardaar Ji 3 in his Cineplex multiplex chain in the country on June 27, told NDTV that the Punjabi film did "outstanding" business in Pakistan. According to him, the movie has grossed Rs 60 crore (PKR) at the Pakistani box office, coming in second to the Fawad Khan-starrer The Legend of Maula Jatt whose collection stands at Rs 124.50 crore (PKR). "It (Sardaar Ji 3) has become the second biggest box office success by crossing Rs 60 crore (PKR) gross box office (approximately) after The Legend of Maula Jatt, which is still playing in selective cinemas since October 2022. The film has done a business of over Rs 124.50 crore (PKR). No other film has ever done a business which has touched Rs 60 crore (PKR)" Nadeem Mandviwalla told NDTV. The top exhibitor also said that Diljit Dosanjh is as popular in Pakistan's Punjab as he is anywhere else in the world. "This was proved last year with the release of Jatt & Juliet 3, which did a business of probably more than Rs 30 crore (PKR)." Nadeem Mandviwalla said there were three key reasons why Sardaar Ji 3 did great business in Pakistan. "First, Diljit, second, Hania Aamir, which was a huge incentive, and third, the film not releasing in India due to the controversy. It was a very negative decision which became positive (for Pakistan)... The film received support from the general public of Pakistan and that became the reason for its great success," he added. While there is a ban on Indian films in Pakistan, Sardaar Ji 3 was allowed to release in the country as one of the co-producer's on the film was a Pakistani called Zain Wali and that the film was ranked as a Punjabi international film, not an Indian movie.
Express Tribune
17-03-2025
- Entertainment
- Express Tribune
Pakistani cinemas shutting down at an alarming rate
Kaabil was the first Indian film to release in Pakistan after a months-long ban in 2017. photo: file An estimated 40 per cent of screens across Pakistani cinemas have shut down since 2018. According to a document provided by exhibitor Nadeem Mandviwalla, 58 screens across 36 cinemas have been closed, with nine more screens temporarily shut down lately. The cinemas that have halted operations include Lahore's Cinestar – ATC, PAF Cinema, Imperial Cinemas, Shabistan Cinema, Prince Cinema, Plaza Cinema, Super Cinema – Royal Palms, Super Cinema – Vogue Tower, Bahria Cinegold Orchard, Sozo World, Cinepax Lake City, Gulistan Cinema and Luxus Grand. In Karachi, Atrium Cinemas, Capri Cinema, Bambino Cinema and Mega Multiplex have been unfunctional whereas Cinemoosh, Bambino and Cinepax have ceased operations in Hyderabad. Meanwhile, Ciros and Odeon in Rawalpindi, Noor Mahal, Cine-One and Sabina Cinema in Faisalabad, Cinestar and Rex Multiplex in Multan, Cine Mehfil Cinema and Parwana Cinema in Sialkot, PAF Cinema and Khayyam Cinema in Sargodha, Marian Cinema in Sahiwal, Naz Cinema in Peshawar, Arts Council in Murree, Gulistan Cinema in Sheikhupura, and Zinco Palace in Gujranwala have all gone under. Among the total 36 cinemas, Lahore seems to be affected the most with 13 cinemas ceasing operations in the last seven years. Karachi is second on the list with four and Hyderabad third with three cinemas. Moreover, among the 124 active screens across 48 cinemas, nine screens have been temporarily shut down. Among them are four screens in Cinepax, Packages Mall, one in Cinepax Amanah Mall, and 1 in Chalo Cinema in Lahore, one in JFC Islamabad, one in Taj Mahal Faisalabad, and one in Cinepax Jinnah Park Rawalpindi. According to the report, that brings the total active screens across the country down to 115. Many factors play into Pakistani cinemas' decline at an alarming rate including lack of enough films to sustain the theatres year-round, the shift in audience's viewing habits since the pandemic and the ban on Indian films. Pakistan first banned Indian films in 2016 in response to the Indian Motion Picture Producers' Association (IMPPA) banning Pakistani actors, singers and technicians from working in Indian films. The tensions between the two countries continued for months. But the ban was eventually lifted with the release of Hrithik Roshan's Kaabil in February 2017. However, on February 26, 2019, Indian Air Force (IAF) fighter jets violated Pakistan's airspace, causing Pakistan Air Force (PAF) to launch Operation Swift Retort in broad daylight on February 27, 2019 and capture pilot Abhinandan Varthaman. It immediately resulted in another ban on Indian films by Pakistan, which is still in effect.
