Humayun Saeed hits back at Shaan Shahid’s criticism of Pakistani rom-coms by asking people to watch Zarrar

For Shaan Shahid, Pakistani cinemas need to move past films like Punjab Nahi Jaungi and London Nahi Jaunga and make an effort to explore genres other than rom-coms. But Humayun Saeed, who starred in both films Shahid referred to, has no issue being here or there or in the cinema to watch Shahid’s upcoming film Zarrar.

On Tuesday, Saeed took to Twitter and wrote, “Idhar bhi jaonga aur udhar bhi jaonga… Aur Zarrar dekhne bhi jaonga [I’m going to go here and there and also to watch Zarrar]… Zarrar releasing on 25th November! All the best Shaan bhai.”

His tweet featured a news post with the headline, “Need to move past ‘idhar nahi jaungi’ or ‘udhar nahi jaungi’. Shaan takes a dig at Humayun Saeed”, along with the poster for Shahid’s upcoming film Zarrar.

Within a few hours of his tweet, Shahid responded and said he can go wherever his heart desires. He clarified that he meant the producers and actors who are doing the most films should explore genres other than rom-coms. “I think the press likes to create controversies… good luck with your upcoming,” he wrote, pointing fingers at the publication.

The news post was from Shahid’s video interview on Saturday to AaJ TV where he said, “I tried to make a good film. It’s a patriotic Pakistani action film with the kind of action you’ve never seen before in theatres. I think I wanted to leave a mark on such a genre. And as far as acting is concerned, in Zarrar it wasn’t new because you’ve seen Waar and Khuda Kay Liye and old Punjabi films, an actor needs to have that versatility that they are able to take on each and every role. Then it’s not difficult to adapt, you just need to understand.”

When asked about sci-fi films and other genres, Shahid said, “There are a lot of subjects that Pakistani directors and producers are yet to experiment with. There’s an entire genre of horror which we barely use, the same goes for sci-fi. I think there are a lot of avenues which if they slowly get out of the idhar nahi jaungi, udhar nahi jaunga phase then they might be able explore.”

Shahid plays the titular character of Zarrar, a secret agent gone rogue, in his newest film. He is on a mission to end corruption, aiming to solve the seemingly endless cycle of threats against his homeland of Pakistan. It also stars Pinky Memsaab’s Kiran Malik, Nadeem Baig, Nayyar Ejaz, Shafqat Cheema, Rasheed Naz, Zia Khan, Adnan Butt and more. The film has been directed and produced by Shahid as well.

Zarrar will be releasing in cinemas in Pakistan on November 25.