Out of all the Pakistani films to come out of this Eid, 7 Din Mohabbat In (7DMI) was the best. That doesn’t make it one of the best films of all times but certainly, it stands out because it was made as a film, featured a star cast, had an excellent cinematography and above all, provided family entertainment. Yes, there was an item song featuring a transgender that could have been avoided but one hopes that in coming days, the makers might realise their mistake and don’t repeat such antics in future projects.

7DMI is heavily inspired from Hollywood classic Bedazzled but with a twist; instead of the Devil, we have a genie who has just escaped from a bottle and vows to become a master anyway which he can. The jinn – Dwarka Prasad from Dilli (Jawed Sheikh) – finds his Aladin in Tipu (Sheheryar Munawwar) who is a loser with no aim in life except getting married to his cousin Neeli (Mahira Khan). A handful of ladies – Ghazala (Amna Ilyas) and Princess Sonu (Mira Sethi) – do come into his life and he dreams of forging a relationship with them but thanks to Dwarka, nothing positive happens, until Tipu decides to become faulad from falooda. Add an antagonist Naseer Kankatta (Aamir Qureshi), a friend Tingu Master (Danish Maqsood), a paralysed mother (Hina Dilpazeer) and a well-wisher (Beo Zafar) and you get a perfect film that has the thrills and chills of an Eid rollercoaster.

Sheheryar Munawwar and Mahira Khan are playing the main lead in the film but like all the other actors, they play characters which is something that usually doesn’t happen in our films. Mira Sethi shines on her film debut as the British returned desi while Amna Ilyas proves that she is an actress, not just an item girl. Jawed Sheikh has the lion’s share when it comes to performance as he plays more than a dozen characters throughout the film including a rickshaw driver, a watchman, a waiter and a lawyer to name a few. Then there was Aamir Qureshi as the villain we all love to hate; his mannerisms erased any chance of sympathy he might have evoked during the climax, he was that bad! Rana Kamran’s cinematography is one of the highlights of the film as he manages to capture Karachi at its best; same goes for Shani Arshad’s background score as well as the many guest composers in the film who don’t let music sidetrack the audience. Meenu & Farjad’s brilliant direction also gives a new life to Faseeh Bari Khan’s fresh script and that’s one of the reasons why 7 Din Mohabbat In manages to stay ahead in the race at the box office.