The 'Cake' Trailer Unfolds The Tale Of An Estranged Family

A fast paced family drama which at times halts to take a breath with slow emotional scenes and then moves on with a jolt. This is the feeling one gets after viewing the trailer of the upcoming Pakistani movie Cake. A directorial debut in cinema by Asim Abbasi, we see a houseful of powerful and dynamic actors in the intro. One also feels a slight touch of Bollywood’s Kapoor and Son’s in the Cake albeit not with a sense of frame to frame replica. Aamina Sheikh as ‘Zareen’ and Sanam Saeed as ‘Zara’, were names enough for the writer to go grab a ticket for the movie, however we also have Adnan Malik as ‘Romeo’, Faris Khalid and the eternal Beo Raana Zafar making up the family the film is based on. The entire trailer is set alight with Beo’s presence as the feisty, always-good-for-a joke mum character.





The trailer reveals the storyline of a family, with two sisters played by Sheikh and Saeed, a brother (who that is, is not clear), two aged parents who are clearly in need of support and an always present bone of contention between the siblings. Rings a bell?  This is the power of the narrative that the director if he is skilled enough to weave into the movie will get away with an Oscar for this film. Metaphorically speaking of course! A teaser released earlier opens with Zareen pondering

‘agar hum beetay huey kal ko dobara likh saktey, tu shayad aaney waley kal ka itna dar na hota’

‘If we could rewrite the past, then maybe we would not be so fearful of the future’

With such a profound thought we are immediately alerted that this is not the typical masala movie and sans the garish overtures of sound, light and visuals. The scene cuts to another typical and a kahani ghar ghar ki (story of every household) phenomenon- mum trying to understand and master the art of Instagram or Facebook and bickering about it at the same time….and then she is also adamant to take the quintessential selfie with a less than happy group of people. The second half of the trailer introduces the conflict in the drama and we see the oh so familiar dialogue that parents utter even today….

‘Akeli larki zameenein sambhaley yeh tumhari zimmedaari nahi hai…’
A single girl managing the land, this is not your responsibility.

Sheikh as the resilient elder daughter takes up the mantle of the family business because her other two siblings seem to be out of the picture. Once the father’s health deteriorates, played by Mohammed Ahmed a message is sent and Zara catches the next flight home. Why did she leave in the first place, and what is the reason of this animosity between the sisters, is not revealed yet. We see a constant tussle between Zareen and Zara with both sisters laying blame on one another for a reasons yet to be unveiled. Saeed is at her best and shows what a remarkable actress she really is in the scenes of pent up frustration and anger which she shows by pulling and dragging Sheikh by the hair in one instance.

The trailer picks up pace and becomes action oriented with a battered and bruised face of Zara. All the lead actors in various interviews have cited a strong script with a very relatable and intriguing storyline as the basis for their consent to work in this film. The trailer definitely manages to grasp your attention with an engaging content and superb acting skills by all the actors we are looking forward to the day Cake hits the cinemas on 30^th March 2018.













 



PHOTOS: LONDON PREMIERE