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Film Kahay Dil Jidhar is finally out in cinemas and its stars, actors Mansha Pasha and Junaid Khan, have a lot to say about the film and how it is the perfect family-pleaser, meant to be watched in cinemas.

The film has been directed by Kamran Bari (who also produced, acted and wrote the film) and tells the story of four friends, how they drift apart, become parts of an imperfect, corrupt system — Junaid becomes a cop, Mansha a TV anchor, Roma her research assistant and Kamran, unsurprisingly, a musician — and then come together for the greater good.

We sat down with the stars of the upcoming film to ask what viewers should expect from their characters and the story, and exactly it is a movie worthy of being watched at the cinema.

Our questions were directed at Khan first. Tell us about your character in the movie, we asked.

"The story is about two friends," Khan said. "The story first tells about their university life and the bond and ambitions they have [during that time]. When their ambitions convert into professional lives, my character's profession is being a police officer. His father is a politician supposedly, a corrupt politician.

"The character I play has many shades In the start he's quite lively and youthful. When he begins his professional life, he becomes more subtle and mature. There's wit in him. There's a rebel in him as well."

When asked why he said yes to this film, he said he had been waiting for this for a long time. "I was waiting for a long time for the sort of thing I wanted to personally see on the big screen — a good script, the right character, the right director, the right team to work with and the right cast to work with," he said. "When I found all these things, that is when I said yes to the film."

Our next big question was whether the film was a good fit for the cinema. Did Khan think people will be interested in watching this film at the cinema?

"Yeah that is the idea," he said. "The idea all along was that the film should have a message and be entertaining as well. When families come to watch films, they come with the intention of being entertained, and I am sure they will be entertained by this movie.

"The film is entertaining, it has a strong message. It talks about the drug abuse that has become so prevalent in our society to spread awareness about it. There's humour in the film, there's action."

For Khan there was another very good reason for watching Kahay Dil Jidhar on the big screen. "You'll also get to see us dance on-screen," he said with a smile. " I have never danced on screen or at award functions so this is going to be my pitch to all the award shows that I can dance, yes."

It is hard to forget that Khan started off as a musician. He made quite the big waves as part of the rock band Call back in the day. Is it difficult to transition from being a singer to being an actor?

"If you consider that all art forms are about expression then the [transition to acting] is not a difficult thing," he said. " However the technicalities when it comes to [singing and acting] are different yes. It does take time to make the transition. I had to go through that process in which I had to face the camera, remember the dialogues and emote them. In music, you write the stuff on your own and the emotions naturally get conveyed through that. You do not have to act in music, you are emoting your own emotions, but in television you are being somebody else.

"I had to through the transition labour. The dramas I did in the beginning, they were my training practice for acting."

What advice does Khan have for other singers hoping to start acting?

"Do explore the medium, yes," he encouraged. "I hadn't really planned to become an actor. Music was how I used to express myself, but when I got offered a role on television and I really got into it, I saw the charm in this as well. How acting has this satisfaction. Acting too has things that you can enjoy as an artist.

"Art is fluid. Whichever art form you choose, if you can express yourself through that then you should do it," he emphasised.

It was time to hit Pasha with our set of questions next. Pasha, isn't a rookie at doing films. She was loved by viewers in the critically acclaimed Laal Kabootar in 2019 and Kahay Dil Jidhar is her third feature film. For the actor, the experience of doing each film has been different, "but in a good way".

What's the biggest difference between working for TV and working on the big screen? "The process of making a drama is quite different from film," she said.

"The requirements from an actor when it comes to film are quite different from what is required from you when it comes to dramas. It of course depends from script to script but a lot of your television [dramas] are dialogue heavy. Film, however, is body-language heavy. You do not have that many dialogues when you're doing a film. A lot of it is nuance , what you are presenting, your body language.

"If you watch Laal Kabootar, you'll see that in that whole film I think I have 12 dialogue lines. She's such a quiet character and so it is all about the body language," Pasha pointed out.

We asked her to share something interesting that happened during the shoot, but it was a little hard for Pasha to remember anecdotes for obvious reasons. "It's been two and a half years since we shot the film," she laughed. "This was before Covid-19. The pandemic has forced itself into my mind so much that quite some memories have escaped as a result. It was a good time though. The things that stand out now are the things we shot in the northern areas. When I look at all the old videos in my phone that's when I remember we did this and that as well."

We also asked her what we asked Khan — why should fans watch Kahay Dil Jidhar?

"It is a feel good film," she replied. "The movie has a serious topic but it isn't depressing. Personally, I would like to watch films that aren't too 'heavy-duty' and this films isn't that.

"You should also watch it because it has Junaid," Pasha quipped. "All the women can come and see him. He's quite nice.

"I am in this film. Roma is in this film. Kamran is in this film as well and it is the second film releasing after Covid-19, all of which are good reasons to watch Kahay Dil Jidhar. "

The film is set to release today (December 17) in cinemas.