''Ho Mann Jahaan'' ( ur, ) is a 2015 Pakistani

coming-of-age Coming of age is a young person's transition from being a child to being an adult. The specific age at which this transition takes place varies between societies, as does the nature of the change. It can be a simple legal convention or can ...

musical Musical is the adjective of music. Musical may also refer to: * Musical theatre, a performance art that combines songs, spoken dialogue, acting and dance * Musical film and television, a genre of film and television that incorporates into the narr ...

drama film In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. Drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular super-g ...

, written and directed by

Asim Raza Asim Raza (; ur, ) is a Pakistani film and television commercial director and producer. Asim began his career as an architect and worked with the architectural firm Arshad Shahid Abdullah (PVT) LTD before venturing into film production and d ...

at his

directorial debut This is a list of film directorial debuts in chronological order. The films and dates referred to are a director's first commercial cinematic release. Many film makers have directed works which were not commercially released, for example early work ...

. The screenplay was written by Rashna Abdi, Imtisal Abbasi and Asim Raza, while dialogues were written by

, Imtisal Abbasi, Rashna Abdi and

Yasir Hussain Yasir Hussain ( ur, ) is a Pakistani screenwriter, actor, playwright and host from Islamabad best known for his comic roles. He hosted '' The After Moon Show'' on Hum TV. He is also known for playing the antagonist in the 2018 social drama '' ...

. The film stars

Adeel Hussain Adeel Husain ( ur, ) is a Pakistani actor and director. He is best known for his roles in '' Daasi,'' ''Mata-e-Jaan Hai Tu'', '' Mohabat Subh Ka Sitara Hai,'' '' Jackson Heights'' and ''Mera Naseeb''. Early life and education Born on 30 June ...

Mahira Khan Mahira Hafeez Khan (; born 21 December 1984) is a Pakistani actress. She started her career as a VJ in 2006. Khan is best known for portraying the role of Khirad Hussain in the romantic-drama ''Humsafar'' for which she received numerous acco ...

Sheheryar Munawar Sheheryar Munawar Siddiqui (born 9 August 1988) is a Pakistani actor, film producer and director. He made his film debut as a lead actor and producer in 2016 with Ho Mann Jahaan. He is notable for his role in Asim Raza's ''Parey Hut Love'', whi ...

and

Sonya Jehan Sonya Rizvi ( ur, ; born 24 April 1980), better known by her stage name Sonya Jehan, is a Pakistani film actress who predominantly works in Urdu and Hindi-language films. She is the granddaughter of legendary singer Noor Jehan and filmmaker S ...

, along with veterans

Bushra Ansari Bushra Iqbal Ansari is a Pakistani actress, comedian, singer and playwright who started her career as a child performer in the 1950s. Ansari won numerous awards during her career, including the Presidential Pride of Performance Award in 1989 fo ...

, Arshad Mahmud,

Jamal Shah Jamal Shah (Pashto: جمال شاہ) is a Pakistani actor, director, painter, social worker, script writer, singer, songwriter. Early life and education Jamal Shah was born into a Pashtun Syed family in 1956 in Quetta, Balochistan, Pakistan. ...

and Munawar Siddiqui. It is produced in Urdu. The film was released in the

Middle East The Middle East ( ar, الشرق الأوسط, ISO 233: ) is a geopolitical region commonly encompassing Arabian Peninsula, Arabia (including the Arabian Peninsula and Bahrain), Anatolia, Asia Minor (Asian part of Turkey except Hatay Pro ...

on 31 December 2015 by

ARY Films ARY Films ( ur, ) is a film distribution and production company in Pakistan, part of ARY Digital Network. 35 films including 11 Urdu, six Punjabi and 17 Pashto films have been released by ARY Films since 2013. Among them, '' Waar'', ''Jawani P ...

and on 1 January 2016 in Pakistan. The film opened to a highly successful box office weekend and went on to run for several weeks, making it one the highest-grossing films of 2016. In Dec 2016 ''Ho Mann Jahaan'' was showcased at the Pakistani Film Festival in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

Plot

''Ho Mann Jahaan'' is a coming-of-age urban story set in present-day

Karachi Karachi (; ur, ; ; ) is the most populous city in Pakistan and 12th most populous city in the world, with a population of over 20 million. It is situated at the southern tip of the country along the Arabian Sea coast. It is the former cap ...

. The film revolves around three main characters – Arhan (

), Manizeh (

), and Nadir ( Adeel Husain). The story is about their friendship born out of shared experiences, passion for music, and aspiration for fame.

plays the role of Sabina, a powerful independent character symbolizing strength and wisdom. The film is a reflection of the struggle between individuals seeking to exercise free will but also attracted to conformity. Parents impose restrictions and dictate terms, because they love their children but at times don't understand them.

Cast

as Manizeh *

as Nadir *

as Arhan *

as Sabina *

as Nadir's mother * Arshad Mehmood as Nadir's father *

Nimra Bucha Nimra Bucha ( ur, ) is a Pakistani actress who has appeared in variety of TV serials, films, web-series and has also worked in theatre. She played a role of Saadat Hassan Manto's muse in Sarmad Khoosat's ''Manto (2015 film), Manto'' which earne ...

as Shahida *

as Manizeh's father *

Munawar Siddiqui Munawar is a given name and a surname. People with the name include: Given name * Munawwar Rana Indian poet *Munawar Faruqui (born 1992), Indian stand-up comedian * Munawar Ahmed Gill (born 1956), Pakistani politician * Munawar Hasan (1941–2020), ...

as Arhan's father *

Fawad Khan Fawad Afzal Khan ( ur, ) (born 29 November 1981) is a Pakistani actor, producer, screenwriter, model and singer having received several awards including a Filmfare Award, two Lux Style Awards and six Hum Awards. Khan began his acting caree ...

(cameo appearance) as Rafael *

Zeb Bangash Zebunisa Bangash (born 7 March 1982), better known as Zeb Bangash, is a Pakistani singer-songwriter from Lahore, Punjab. Her family originally comes from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. Apart from her solo career, she was the member of music group Zeb and ...

(cameo appearance) as Xenovia *

Hamza Ali Abbasi Hamza Ali Abbasi (Urdu/ pa, ; born 23 June 1984) is a Pakistani film and television actor and director. He is known for his roles as Afzal in the drama serial ''Pyarey Afzal'', and as Salahuddin in the drama serial ''Mann Mayal''. In 201 ...

(cameo appearance) as Malang Baba * Syra Yousuf (cameo appearance) in the "Shakar Wandaan" Song *

Bilal Maqsood Bilal Maqsood (Urdu: بلال مقصود) is a Pakistani guitarist, composer, and a founding member of Strings. He has also directed a number of music videos. For Bilal and his band Strings, success came in 1992 after the launch of the song ''S ...

(cameo appearance) *

Faisal Kapadia Strings () was a Pakistani pop/rock band composed of two members, plus four live band members from Karachi, Pakistan. The band was initially formed by four college students— Bilal Maqsood (vocals and guitars), Faisal Kapadia (vocals), Raf ...

(cameo appearance) *

Zoheb Hassan Zoheb Hassan (born November 18, 1966) is a Pakistani pop icon, singer, songwriter, producer, and was a part of the superduo Nazia and Zoheb. Early career and breakthrough Zoheb and his sister Nazia spent their childhood in Karachi as well as L ...

(cameo appearance) *

Ahmed Ali Akbar Ahmed Ali Akbar is a Pakistani actor who primarily works in Urdu television. He marked his television debut at the age of thirteen in PTV's drama ''Stop Watch''. He guest-starred in 2013 drama film '' Siyaah'' and started his professional acting ...

(extended cameo) * Ali Zia Naqvi (cameo appearance) * Syed Faizan Ali (cameo appearance)

Production

The film was primarily shot in

, and some parts were shot in the northern areas of

Pakistan Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 24 ...

. The film was shot using two Alexa cameras with two camera units. The film's first teaser was released on 25 March 2015 where the cast and crew got together for a press event at the film's largest and one of the industry's most expensive sets.

Soundtrack

The soundtrack was digitally released on 1 November 2015. It comprises a total of ten songs by various artists. The album contains only three original tracks, written by

; the rest of the songs were re-recorded by artists who had previously performed them. The album was produced by

Faakhir Faakhir Mehmood ( ur, ) is a Pakistani actor, singer, keyboradist, composer and music producer. He started out his career with the Pakistani musical group Awaz. However, due to conflicts of interest, the band split in 2000 and they all went t ...

and Ehtisham Malick at ET studios. The song "Khush Piya" was dedicated to

Malika Pukhraj Malika Pukhraj ( Punjabi, ur, ملكہ پکھراج ) (1912 – 2004) was a highly popular Ghazal and folk singer of Pakistan. She was generally known as "Malika", meaning "The Queen", publicly. She was extremely popular for her rendition ...

Tina Sani Tina may refer to: People *Tina (given name), people and fictional characters with the given name ''Tina'' Places * Tina, Iran, a village in Khuzestan Province, Iran *Tina, Tunisia, a town in Sfax Governorate, Tunisia * Tina, Guadalcanal, Solomo ...

Track listing

Release

The film was originally scheduled to be released on the holiday of Eid al-Azha on 25 September 2015, but was rescheduled for release on 1 January 2016.

Critical reception

The film generally received mixed reviews. Rafay Mehmood of ''Express Tribune'' rated 2 out of 5 stars and criticised its script and camera work and said "Ho Mann Jahaan is a failed marriage between advertisement and film, and the rest is just too long to sit and absorb". Hamna Zubair of Dawn News praised its well selected cast and their acting. The editor also praised its strong hitting social message and wrote that "Ho Mann Jahaan succeeds in its aim to entertain, and I'm happy for everyone involved. Go watch the film, you'll like it". Fatima Aleem of nation gave it a rating of 7 out of 10 and praised the film's content and marked that "Movie had a good lesson for parents to let their children choose the career line they want to opt rather than compelling them to fulfill their dreams and live a life they never wished for".Editor of Dunya News praised The Direction but criticised its predictable storyline and mainly praised Shehreyar Munawar's acting but pointed out more negatives than positives. Haider Janjua praised the film especially its actors and wrote that "All in all, Ho Mann Jahan is a really great and entertaining movie. Yes, it wasn't perfect and there is always room for improvement especially in the story department but the great thing for me which made it such a compelling and heartfelt movie was the messages that it had hidden in the shining glossy wrapping". Ujala Ali Khan of ''The National'' highly praised the film and wrote that"A highly relatable story featuring likeable characters, teamed with great performances by both the lead and supporting actors, makes for an easy, pleasant viewing experience". Galaxy Lollywood rated it 3 out of 5 stars and wrote that "Good performances by the lead actors, great music, some special guest appearances and a slowly moving plot await you. Its not the best that Pakistani Cinema has offered, but then its not the worst either". Adnan Murad of the Blasting News gave film 3 out of 5 stars and praised the film's screenplay and wrote "‘Ho Mann Jahaan’ works brilliantly because of some tremendous and understated work from all departments. The dialogues are refreshingly witty but quite cheesy at some instances. However, the casual dialogue writing makes it easier for the viewers to relate with the characters". Adnan Sarym of HIP gave a rating of 4 out of 5

Accolades

References

External links

* * {{Highest-grossing Pakistani films 2015 films Films shot in Karachi Films set in Karachi Animated films about music and musicians Pakistani coming-of-age films Pakistani romantic drama films 2015 romantic drama films Lollywood films 2010s Urdu-language films Films shot in Gilgit-Baltistan 2015 directorial debut films Films directed by Asim Raza