''Durj'' is a 2019 Pakistani Urdu-language
mystery
Mystery, The Mystery, Mysteries or The Mysteries may refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media Fictional characters
*Mystery, a cat character in ''Emily the Strange''
*Mystery, a seahorse that SpongeBob SquarePants adopts in the episode " My Pre ...
thriller
Thriller may refer to:
* Thriller (genre), a broad genre of literature, film and television
** Thriller film, a film genre under the general thriller genre
Comics
* ''Thriller'' (DC Comics), a comic book series published 1983–84 by DC Comics i ...
film, written and directed by
Shamoon Abbasi
Shamoon Abbasi (; born 4 April 1973) is a Pakistani actor, director, producer and screenwriter, best known for portraying villain roles.
Early life and family
In his early years Abbasi was a footballer, captaining his team at U-17 school level.
...
and produced by
Dodi Khan.The film stars
Shamoon Abbasi
Shamoon Abbasi (; born 4 April 1973) is a Pakistani actor, director, producer and screenwriter, best known for portraying villain roles.
Early life and family
In his early years Abbasi was a footballer, captaining his team at U-17 school level.
...
,
Sherry Shah,
Maira Khan
Maira Khan (; born 27 July 1984) is a Pakistani television and film actress, model and former VJ.
Her notable performances include '' Chambaili'' (2013 film), Revenge of the Worthless (2016 film), '' Durj'' (2019 film), ''Cheekh'' (2019 TV Dr ...
, Dodi Khan,
Nouman Javaid
Nouman Javaid (born 28 October 1982) is a Pakistani singer. He started his career writing, composing and singing hit songs for Mahesh Bhatt
Mahesh Bhatt (born 20 September 1948) is an Indian film director, producer and screenwriter known f ...
and Hafeez Ali. The film is based on true events and a large part of it is about
cannibalism
Cannibalism is the act of consuming another individual of the same species as food. Cannibalism is a common ecological interaction in the animal kingdom and has been recorded in more than 1,500 species. Human cannibalism is also well document ...
. Inspired by two actual cases of cannibalism in Pakistan, particularly that of a pair of brothers from Bhakkar who devoured over 100 corpses and were set free despite their dastardly crimes, solely because no law exists against cannibalism in Pakistan's penal code.
Plot
Dr Farah
Maira Khan
Maira Khan (; born 27 July 1984) is a Pakistani television and film actress, model and former VJ.
Her notable performances include '' Chambaili'' (2013 film), Revenge of the Worthless (2016 film), '' Durj'' (2019 film), ''Cheekh'' (2019 TV Dr ...
, a Pakistani psychologist, gets access to a notorious recaptured cannibal, Gul Buksh
Shamoon Abbasi
Shamoon Abbasi (; born 4 April 1973) is a Pakistani actor, director, producer and screenwriter, best known for portraying villain roles.
Early life and family
In his early years Abbasi was a footballer, captaining his team at U-17 school level.
...
, incarcerated in a high security prison. Dr Farah's objective is to find her missing journalist husband. And she strongly suspects Buksh might have the answer.
Throwing her professional career and caution to the winds, Farah manages to kidnap a chained Buksh from solitary confinement and takes him to a place where she can grill him. While the entire local elite police force is activated to search for them, Farah tries to elicit answers from the serial cannibal – but it is not that simple. Hardened by years of societal neglect and police brutality, Buksh responds to her aggression with amusement, and turns the tables on her, forcing her to listen to aspects of his life she would rather not know or hear.
If the hair-raising horror in The Silence of the Lambs made audiences feel fairly queasy, Durj does not indulge in depicting gory details – there are only suggestions of it. And yet the hideousness of digging up graves, hunting for humans and, cooking and devouring their flesh are all creatively implied – the hallmark of a talented director. Producer
Shamoon Abbasi
Shamoon Abbasi (; born 4 April 1973) is a Pakistani actor, director, producer and screenwriter, best known for portraying villain roles.
Early life and family
In his early years Abbasi was a footballer, captaining his team at U-17 school level.
...
has not only directed the film, but also written the screenplay and played the villainous lead as well.
Cast
*
Shamoon Abbasi
Shamoon Abbasi (; born 4 April 1973) is a Pakistani actor, director, producer and screenwriter, best known for portraying villain roles.
Early life and family
In his early years Abbasi was a footballer, captaining his team at U-17 school level.
...
as Gul Bakhsh
*
Sherry Shah as Laali
*
Maira Khan
Maira Khan (; born 27 July 1984) is a Pakistani television and film actress, model and former VJ.
Her notable performances include '' Chambaili'' (2013 film), Revenge of the Worthless (2016 film), '' Durj'' (2019 film), ''Cheekh'' (2019 TV Dr ...
as Farah
*
Nouman Javaid
Nouman Javaid (born 28 October 1982) is a Pakistani singer. He started his career writing, composing and singing hit songs for Mahesh Bhatt
Mahesh Bhatt (born 20 September 1948) is an Indian film director, producer and screenwriter known f ...
* Dodi Khan
* Hafeez Ali
Production
In an interview with
Dawn News
Dawn News HD is a Pakistani 24-hour Urdu news channel. Based in Karachi, the station is a subsidiary of Pakistan Herald Publications Limited (PHPL), Pakistan's largest English-language media group.
The test transmission of the station occurr ...
, Abbasi stated that the film was inspired by true events which took place in Punjab and that although the film is based on Cannibalism it has multiple stories merged into one; ''"Durj's plot does not just revolve around cannibalism, it is about a cannibal but we have multiple stories. There are three stories which merge into one."'' The film crew had to research which took about a year to collect data on cases before starting work on the story line.
References
External links
*
* {{Facebook, Durjthemovie
2019 films
2010s Urdu-language films
Pakistani action thriller films
Pakistani films about revenge
Pakistani thriller films
Pakistani mystery films
Urdu-language Pakistani films