Pakistan Readies For WAAR, Their Biggest Cinematic Event Ever

It has been about 18 months since we first posted the teaser for upcoming Pakistani action blockbuster Waar. In that time there has been precious little news regarding the film's ultimate fate. It hasn't released yet in Pakistan, and the director and crew have been very quiet about what's actually going on. However, just this week we have been thrown a solid bit of information in the form of an entirely new trailer featuring mostly new footage and a lot of dialogue, much of it in English.

Since I went in depth into the complexities of the film's production and funding in my previous post (available below), I'll skip those details in favor of some new tidbits that I've managed to gather. Waar has completed principal photography and looks closer than ever to hitting Pakistani cinema screens. I've seen September 6 as the premiere date in more than one place online, however, I haven't been able to confirm that officially.

The film's official Facebook page was completely silent for the last eighteen months until the reveal of this new trailer, and even then, there is no information to accompany it. However, it appears that people close to the production have learned that the film's delay was due in large part to director Bilal Lashari's insistence that all post-production work be completed in Pakistan, in order to show naysayers that the country is capable of mounting this kind of large scale production. At this point, that here hearsay and may prove to be mere propaganda, however, the updated footage and trailer are certainly a good sign, and if the film can manage to hit that September 6 release date, there's a good chance that I'll be able to see it here in the US, as major Pakistani films do make the leap from time to time, the last one of significance being Bol.

As far as the film, itself, it looks remarkably solid apart from some dodgy CGI blood, and that's a major step up for the Pakistani film industry. I still have very little idea of what the film is about, though it seems to revolve around terrorism, but I'm willing to take a chance if I'm lucky enough to get a screen here in Dallas. In the meantime, you can get a taste of Waar in this new, half-English/half-Urdu trailer.