67. Parchi; movie review

PARCHI
Cert 15
137 mins
BBFC advice: Contains strong violence

When I find myself alone in a cinema auditorium, it tends to mean either the film is at the end of its run or it is a stinker.
Parchi had only been showing at Leicester Odeon for week so, sadly, fell into the second category.
Director Azfar Jafri attempts to mix violence and comedy and just comes up with a mess.
He sets out his stall in the opening scenes when two people who had been making tame jokes with their pal are suddenly shot in the head by a gangster.
In the hands of Quentin Tarantino this might work but here it really jars (and I mean REALLY) - because the deaths are treated so matter-of-factly.
In publicity blurb, Parchi is described as a comedy crime caper but that would imply it was funny. It isn't - it is just silly and occasionally shocking (usually when people are shot in the head).
It stars Ali Rehman Khan as Bash who finds himself owing five million rupees to a crime lord (Shafqat Cheema) who spends the entire movie with a gun in his hand and a rather threatening expression.
Ahmed Ali Akbar, Usman Mukhtar and Shafqat Khan are Bash's cumbersome crew who are constantly having fall-outs as they deliberate hare-brained schemes of how to raise the cash.
Meanwhile,  their new and reluctant associate (Hareem Farooq) is, unknown to them, the crimelord's daughter and is running rackets of her own.
It is always fascinating to watch a Pakistani film and see how far removed it is from the impression reflected by our news media.
The country is often presented as an extreme, funless place where woman are shrouded and bearded men carry Kalashnikovs or the like.
Interestingly, during their movies few women even wear scarves to cover the tops of their heads and the men seem well up for a giggle and don't all carry guns.
If Parchi is anything to go by, the fellas do manicure their beards with precision so fine they may have needed a slide rule.
Indeed, the beards are so dazzling, they provided a welcome distraction from a movie which made little sense from its opening moments.
I hope this is just a one-off and Pakistan's revived cinema doesn't start copying the worst of Bollywood as well as trying to compete with its best.

Reasons to watch: gives a very different view of modern Pakistan
Reasons to avoid: its mix of violence and comedy doesn't work

Laughs: none
Jumps: none
Vomit: none
Nudity: none
Overall rating: 3.5/10

The big question - Why is Pakistan presented in such an unflattering light in the West?

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