Following the footsteps of blockbusters like Khuda Ke Liye and Bol, Pakistan’s film industry has certainly fared well over the last few years. It has been entertaining audiences both locally and internationally with movies such as Bilal Lashari’s Waar. Bin Roye is another installment of the recently revived film industry. The much anticipated film is running successfully across the country. With a captivating story, a cast full of renowned actors, strong script and the portrayal of everyday situations that the audience can resonate with, from wedding functions to funerals, the film keeps the viewers enthralled. Although it lacks consistent pace and ends fairly abruptly, Momina Duraid and Shehzad Kashmiri must be commended for their hard driven efforts in making a notable movie. The effort has clearly paid off as vindicated by packed cinema houses everywhere.

The premise of the movie revolves around the storyline of Saba (Mahira Khan) who is in love with Irtiza (Humayun Saeed) who despite showing all possible signs of loving her instead marries her sister Saman. Saba and Irtiza are cousins who are quite close to each other and also fond of one another. Their entire household is aware of their inseparable bond but cannot for some strange reason fathom that there might be more to their relation than just friendship.

The movie takes a sudden time jump where Irtiza leaves for America for two years only to come back and profess his love for Saman to Saba. Moreover, in another abrupt, and rather weird, time jump Saman comes back to Pakistan and adjusts miraculously and conveniently well to the Pakistani way of life after the death of her parents in an airplane crash.

Bin Roye then builds on Saba’s emotions as she struggles to be happy for her sister and quite explicitly states to a family member that she wishes Saman had died in the crash. And just like any dramatic movie this indeed does happen. Now one would think that Saba’s character would be in pure agony and unable to seek forgiveness and even Irtiza’s character would be miserable – who not only claimed to be madly in love with Saman but also has a son to look after – but this is where the clichéd movie plot comes in. It adversely affects Bin Roye in a sense that it treads upon the similar path of Bollywood movies such as Kuch Kuch Hota Hai and the hit Pakistani drama Alvida.

As expected, Saba after an apparent period of anguish and suffering – which Mahira Khan struggles to portray convincingly – ends up marrying Irtiza who is shown making every effort to win her love as he claims in the end “I have always been in love with you”. Now almost every person would have pulled out their hair. The last twenty minutes of the movie were not only being dragged on but the aforementioned line ruined the movie whose end could have gone in a completely different direction.

Overall, Bin Roye is worth watching if one is looking for a good Pakistani movie to see with their family. It does not exactly have a moral to it and despite Mahira Khan’s overacting in certain scenes towards the end, and Humayun Saeed trying his best to pull off a seemingly young character, the movie is capable of extracting emotions from the audience. Its musical sequences, together with the portrayal of Pakistani fashion, especially wedding outfits, make it a good show.

The entire cast and crew have done well to pull off a storyline that is not really original. They make the audience ignore the shortcomings of the story, as the movie progresses, with the viewers getting immersed in the characters’ lives.  Momina Duraid and Shehzad Kashmiri have done remarkably well given the fact that the movie was released with Salman Khan’s Bajrangi Bhaijaan and another Pakistani movie Wrong No.

Rating: 3.5/5