''Yalghaar'' ( en, "Assault" or "Attack"; previously known as ''Delta Echo Foxtrot'') is a 2017 Pakistani war-epic film directed by Hassan Rana. The film is produced by MindWorks Media and is based on the true story of

Pakistan Army The Pakistan Army (, ) is the Army, land service branch of the Pakistan Armed Forces. The roots of its modern existence trace back to the British Indian Army that ceased to exist following the partition of India, Partition of British India, wh ...

's Swat Operation. Yalghaar was facilitated by Brigadier Syed Mujtaba Tirmizi from Inter-Services Public Relations - ISPR. The film "explores what happens in the lives of those involved, including the militants and how all of them are affected at a personal level because of the ongoing operation". It stars Shaan Shahid in the lead role, along with Humayun Saeed, Adnan Siddiqui, Armeena Khan,

Aleeze Nasser Aleeze Nasser is a Dubai-based film actress and model. She made her debut in 2017's Pakistani film ''Yalghaar'' and will appear in ''Waar 2''. Early life and career Aleeze Nasser was born on December 23, 1988 in Dubai, UAE. Her mother is a Turkis ...

Ayesha Omer Ayesha Omar (born 12 October 1981) is a Pakistani actress and YouTuber. Considered as a style icon in her home country, Omar is one of the most popular and highest-paid actresses of Pakistan. In 2012, she released her first singles "Chalte C ...

Sana Bucha Sana Bucha is a Pakistani news anchor, who appears in prime time news talk shows. She is known for hosting a show named ''Lekin''. Early life and education Sana Bucha received her basic education at the Convent of Jesus and Mary, Karachi School ...

Bilal Ashraf Bilal Ashraf ( ur, ; born 10 October 1979) is a Pakistani film actor, producer and visual effects director. After studying visual effects from the Franklin Marshall College, he started his career as a visual effects director and then pursued his ...

. It is the most expensive Pakistani movie to date. Apart from budget and extensive cast, the film features 150 written characters. On 19 December 2014, Hassan Waqas Rana revealed that this film is a tribute to slain children of the

2014 Peshawar school attack On 16 December 2014, six gunmen affiliated with the Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) conducted a terrorist attack on the Army Public School in the northwestern Pakistani city of Peshawar. The militants, all of whom were foreign nationals, compri ...

Plot

The film is based on an actual military operation conducted in the Piochar region of Swat district.

Cast

* Shaan Shahid as Colonel Asad in Special Services Group of

* Humayun Saeed as Torjan - A

Militant The English word ''militant'' is both an adjective and a noun, and it is generally used to mean vigorously active, combative and/or aggressive, especially in support of a cause, as in "militant reformers". It comes from the 15th century Latin " ...

leader of the local area who has established himself as an Ameer of the area * Adnan Siddiqui as Lt Col. Imran *

as Capt. Bilal (SSG) *

Ahmad Taha Ghani Ahmad Taha Ghani is a Pakistani actor and musician. He appeared in acclaimed television serials such as ''Parizaad'' and ''Jo Tu Chahey''. He made his film debut with Hassan Rana's 2017 war-epic ''Yalghaar''. Personal life Coming from a family ...

as Capt. Asif - Combat Group Pilot

Wali Yousaf A wali (''wali'' ar, وَلِيّ, '; plural , '), the Arabic word which has been variously translated "master", "authority", "custodian", "protector", is most commonly used by Muslims to indicate an Islamic saint, otherwise referred to by the ...

as Capt. Abdullah - Combat Group Pilot

Ali Rehman Khan Ali Rehman Khan ( ur, ) is a Pakistani actor who appears in Urdu films, television series and theater plays. Khan has won two Hum Awards and has been nominated twice at the Lux Style Awards for his acting prowess. Born and raised in Islamabad ...

as Capt. Ali - A technical expert who conducts location from army headquarter *

Ali Sohail ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib ( ar, عَلِيّ بْن أَبِي طَالِب; 600 – 661 CE) was the last of four Rightly Guided Caliphs to rule Islam (r. 656 – 661) immediately after the death of Muhammad, and he was the first Shia Imam. ...

as Capt. Asif - A technical expert who conducts location from army headquarter *

as Sadia - A Reporter, and love interest of Col. Asad *

as Fareeha - Wife of Lt Col. Imran * Armeena Khan as Jero *

Uzma Khan Uzma Khan (; born 28 February 1987) is a Pakistani film actress. She started her career with the movie ''The Dusk'' (2011) and later appeared in the film '' Waar'' (2013) and ''Yalghaar'' (2015). She played the role of the character Mujtuba's w ...

as Capt. Samia - A Military Doctor *

as Zarmina * Gohar Rasheed as Baran * Syed Irfan Gilani as DG MI Sohail - Military Intelligence Director General. * Hassan Rana as Maj. General Hassan * Ashir Azeem as Maj. General Ahmed * Talib Rizvi as Maj. General Taimur * Ayub Khosa as Colonel Jogezai *

Sikander Rizvi Sikander “Xander” Rizvi ( ur, سکندر رضوی) is a Pakistani restaurateur and film actor who is the founder of Xander's. Born in Karachi to the Jehan-Rizvi family; where his grandparents Noor Jehan and Shaukat Hussain Rizvi and other ...

as Azhar * Zarrar Azeem as Capt. Zarrar *

Umair Jaswal Umair Jaswal is a Pakistani actor, singer-songwriter and music producer from Islamabad. He was also lead vocalist of the rock band ''Qayaas''. Umair is the brother of singers Yasir Jaswal and Uzair Jaswal. Personal life Jaswal, whose fa ...

as Capt. Umair (cameo appearance)

Production

Development

Soon after the release of Waar back in 2013, Hassan Rana signed two more films with ARY Films sequel of Waar known as Waar 2 and Delta Echo Foxtrot later known as Yalghaar. ISPR was approached in order to get more insight of the facts and figures of the Swat Operation. Hassan Rana wanted to know how it feels to be a soldier who is fighting on the front lines of war. The movie went into production after about 3 years of extensive research. Apart from using a vast number of choppers and heavy

ammunition Ammunition (informally ammo) is the material fired, scattered, dropped, or detonated from any weapon or weapon system. Ammunition is both expendable weapons (e.g., bombs, missiles, grenades, land mines) and the component parts of other weap ...

, an artificial tunnel was dug in Karachi to replicate one found in North Waziristan. In preparation for their roles, all actors spent time with their real-life

alter ego An alter ego (Latin for "other I", " doppelgänger") means an alternate self, which is believed to be distinct from a person's normal or true original personality. Finding one's alter ego will require finding one's other self, one with a differen ...

s. Humayun Saeed, who plays the role of a militant, spent days with captured militants in order to prepare for his role. Duraid Qureshi, the CEO of Hum Network Limited announced at the

4th Hum Awards The 4th Hum Awards ceremony, presented by the Hum Television Network and Entertainment Channel (HTNEC), sponsored by Servis, honored the best in fashion, music and Hum Television Dramas of 2015. It took place on April 23, 2016 at the Expo Centre ...

that the film will be distributed under the banner of Hum Films.

Release

Yalghaar was officially released on 25 June 2017 for the

Eid al-Fitr , nickname = Festival of Breaking the Fast, Lesser Eid, Sweet Eid, Sugar Feast , observedby = Muslims , type = Islamic , longtype = Islamic , significance = Commemoration to mark the end of fasting in Ramadan , dat ...

holiday on 112 screens across Pakistan. It was also released in 22 countries at the same time including United States, UK, UAE, etc.

Box office

The film has collected 1.75 crores on day 1 of the Eid, 2.40 crore on day 2 of the Eid, 2.20 crore on day 3 of the Eid. Making a grand total of 6.35 crore as Eid collection. It emerged victorious against other releases of the Eid. These figures are confirmed by movie marketing agents. On day 4 of its release, it racked in 1.40 crore, which is the record collection of any movie on Thursday in Pakistan. On first weekend of its release, it collected 1.30 crore, 1.50 crore and 1.35 crore respectively on Friday, Saturday and Sunday taking its total collection to 11.9 crore. Nasar Khan, PR & Publications associate manager at HUM Network, local distributors of Yalghaar, confirmed the numbers "These numbers are accurate".

Critical reception

Rafay Mahmood of '' The Express Tribune'' said that the film had its "heart in the right place", depicting "what an average soldier goes through in order to serve his country while taking care of his friends, love life and family" while "engaged on two different fronts with two different kinds of enemies — external and internal." However, he criticized the film's loose plot, describing it as an "omelette", as well as forced English dialogues, and the director's romanticism of the "posh side of the army lifestyle". He noted that if done right, the film "had the potential to wake up the sleeping giant that the Eid box-office can be." Areebah Shahid writing for Bolo Jawan gave the film 3 stars, appreciating the cinematography and war sequences but criticizing the script and editing. Momin Ali Munshi of Galaxy Lollywood described the film's starting action scenes as "wonderfully executed" and having "definitely set the right motion for the film", in addition to praising its background score; however, he noted that the introduction of multiple characters weakened the sequence of the plot, which made it a "star-studded hot mess". Faraz Talat of '' Dawn'' praised the acting of Adnan Siddiqui, Sana Bucha and Ayub Khoso, but said the movie suffered from an incoherent storyline, in addition to weaknesses in choreography, dialogues, production, and certain aspects of character development. While noting Yalghaar's expensive production value, he concluded that the "film industry needs more than just patriotism; it needs a will to explore new artistic territory." Sana Gilani of ''

Daily Pakistan The ''Daily Pakistan'' ( ur, ) is a daily newspaper in Pakistan, published both in Urdu language and in English. Mujeeb-ur-Rehman Shami is its chief editor.heyear" and viewed all characters positively, save for the female extras and the antagonist role played by Humayun Saeed, which she described as "aloof". According to Gilani, critics appeared to miss the fact that the movie relayed true events, which made the storyline and narrative obvious. Omair Alavi of Brandsynario commended Yalghaar as a "better option" for those wanting to watch a Pakistani film, and approved its action sequences, patriotic and emotion-laced appeal, war theme, as well as its cast which featured renowned and upcoming stars. However, he noted there were certain technical glitches, ordinarily executed scenes, and misplaced dialogues.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Yalghaar 2017 films 2010s action war films Pakistani action war films Films scored by Channi Singh 2010s Urdu-language films Insurgency in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa fiction Films about terrorism in Asia Films set in Karachi Films shot in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa MindWorks Media films War films based on actual events Epic films based on actual events Films set in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Films directed by Hassan Rana Pakistani epic films Military of Pakistan in films Hum films 2017 directorial debut films