This is why I love going to press conferences. There are some very interesting people present who ask ridiculous questions that make my day, and if the celebrities involved have a good sense of humour, then they have a good laugh too. Clearly, Hamza Ali Abbasi and Osman Khalid Butt are good sports because when such a question arose at the press conference for their upcoming movie, both of them could be seen laughing away on stage.
It all started when a grand ceremony was held for the mere announcement of Momina Duraid’s upcoming project in collaboration with Pakistan Air Force. About time, when there are so many Army funded films floating around, it’s about time the Air Force also caught up.
Which is what Duraid suggested to Air Commodore Syed Mohammed Ali from PAF’s media wing. What was initially thought out to be a simple video turned into a feature length film, thanks to Duraid’s persuasion. The film, titled Parvaz Hay Junoon will be released next Eid ul Azha, in 2017.
What was a topic of confusion amongst the attendees was the fact that a certain leading lady was missing from the conference. There was even one empty chair and we are wondering if that was for her. There were rumours afloat that Mahira Khan would be starring alongside Hamza Ali Abbasi, but she was nowhere to be seen, or even mentioned by the production team. Therefore the two confirmed names for now are Hamza and Osman.
But perhaps one journalist in the audience was not happy with the casting choices made by the production team, as he proceeded to ask them the following question “Why did you not choose any stars for this movie? There are people like Shaan and other big names, why not choose them?” This question clearly irked Humayun Saeed, who could be seen sitting in the front row, turning around angrily to see who had asked this. But everyone on stage simply burst out into fits of laughter with Duraid pointing towards Osman and Hamza saying, “And who do you think these two boys are?”
Later, I caught up with Hamza to ask him what he thought of this comment. “It will look strange if you show Shaan as a 22 year old cadet. Also, if they had taken Shaan in the movie, they would have asked ‘why aren’t you promoting young talent,’ so I don’t pay attention to such comments. But it was really funny!”
