''Janaan'' (

Urdu Urdu (; , , ) is an Indo-Aryan languages, Indo-Aryan language spoken chiefly in South Asia. It is the Languages of Pakistan, national language and ''lingua franca'' of Pakistan. In India, it is an Eighth Schedule to the Constitution of Indi ...

Pashto Pashto ( , ; , ) is an eastern Iranian language in the Indo-European language family, natively spoken in northwestern Pakistan and southern and eastern Afghanistan. It has official status in Afghanistan and the Pakistani province of Khyb ...

: جانان; ) is a 2016

Pakistani Pakistanis (, ) are the citizens and nationals of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan. Pakistan is the fifth-most populous country, with a population of over 241.5 million, having the second-largest Muslim population as of 2023. As much as ...

romantic comedy film directed by

Azfar Jafri Azfar Jafri () is a Pakistani film director, screenwriter, actor, and VFX artist. He is best known for his Independent film An independent film, independent movie, indie film, or indie movie is a feature film or short film that is film producti ...

, written by

Osman Khalid Butt Osman Khalid Butt () is a Pakistani film, television and theatre actor, writer and choreographer. He is best known for his role as Wali Sohaib Khan in '' Diyar-e-Dil'' (2015), Faaz Ibrahim in '' Chupke Chupke'' (2021) and Malik Shahzain in '' Eh ...

and co-produced by Hareem Farooq, Munir Hussain, Imran Raza Kazmi and Reham Khan, under production banners of IRK Films and ''Munir Hussain Films – UK''. The film stars Armeena Khan, Bilal Ashraf and Ali Rehman Khan in lead roles. The film was released in

Pakistan Pakistan, officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of over 241.5 million, having the Islam by country# ...

ARY Films ARY Films () 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 Phir ...

on 12 September 2016 (

Eid al-Adha Eid al-Adha () is the second of the two main festivals in Islam alongside Eid al-Fitr. It falls on the 10th of Dhu al-Hijja, the twelfth and final month of the Islamic calendar. Celebrations and observances are generally carried forward to the ...

). B4U Films distributed the film Internationally.

Plot

Meena ( Armeena Khan), a

Pashtun Pashtuns (, , ; ;), also known as Pakhtuns, or Pathans, are an Iranic ethnic group primarily residing in southern and eastern Afghanistan and northwestern Pakistan. They were historically also referred to as Afghans until 1964 after the ...

student living in

Vancouver Vancouver is a major city in Western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the cit ...

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

, travels to

Swat, Pakistan Swat District (), also known as the Swat Valley, is a district in the Malakand Division of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan. Known for its stunning natural beauty, the district is a popular tourist destination. With a population of 2,687,384 per th ...

for her cousin Palwasha's (

Hania Amir Hania Aamir (born 12 February 1997) is a Pakistani actress and influencer who works in Urdu television and films. She began her acting career with the comedy film '' Janaan'' (2016) and made her television debut with '' Titli'' (2017) with late ...

) wedding. Her Canadian friends are worried that she may be married, too. She is met at the airport by the bride's adopted brother, Asafandyar ( Bilal Ashraf), and taken back to the house, where festivities are taking a swing. Upon arrival, Palwasha explains to Meena about her meeting and subsequent engagement with her fiancé Samir, a Punjabi. Daniyal ( Ali Rehman Khan), Palwasha's cousin, attempts to impress Meena with some ill-advised stunts (including swallowing a lit cigarette), to Meena's disapproval and derision. The groom's family also arrive for the wedding. Meena breaks a tooth and while having the tooth fixed becomes intoxicated by the painkillers from the dentist- this leads to a chain of events which leads to Samir becoming uncomfortable, mistakenly thinking that Daniyal is attracted to him. Meanwhile, Meena develops a feeling for Asfandyar after seeing his kind nature, at the school where he works- a school funded by wealthy beneficiary Ikramullah. On the night of Palwasha's mehndi ceremony, Chotu (the driver) reveals to Asfandyar that he was abused by Ikramullah in his childhood and that Ikramullah is a child predator who has been abusing vulnerable children at the school. Upon Ikramullah's arrival at the ceremony, Asfandyar approaches him in anger and punches and slaps him, much to his family's chagrin. This leads to Daniyal's mother denouncing Asfandyar, claiming that his temperament is solely due to his being adopted. Asfandyar is greatly upset by this but is consoled by Daniyal, who tells him he thinks of him as his real older brother. Before learning about Ikramullah's true nature, Meena slaps Asfandyar out of anger and afterward regrets this action. Due to his family's disapproval of his earlier actions, Asfandyar refrains from telling the family of Ikramullah's child abuse and remains detached at the Nikkah ceremony. His father learns of what happened to Chotu and the younger students and decides to pursue a court case against Ikramullah with the help of the students' parents. Ikramullah threatens violence against the family if the charges are not dropped. Meanwhile, Samir and Asfandyar help Daniyal plan a proposal for Meena, a proposal that she rejects. Later that evening, the car that Palwasha and Meena are driving is stopped by Ikramullah's men. Asfandyar and Daniyal are also driving along this road and are injured in a struggle with Ikramullah's men. On the day of the wedding, Meena receives a full-time job offer from a Canadian middle school, starting from a month after the wedding. After a talk with Daniyal, Asfandyar realizes his feelings for Meena and goes to her room to talk to her where he finds the job offer and leaves, assuming she will leave after accepting the offer. After the wedding, Ikramullah's men arrive and shoot Chotu, killing him. Asfandyar follows them and finds that they have set the school on fire, in retaliation for Ikramullah's arrest earlier that night. Daniyal and Meena arrive as Asfandyar runs into the flames. A month later, Meena is seen teaching the children from the burnt school, which is seen being reconstructed. She and Daniyal then travel to a graveyard, where Asfandyar is visiting Chotu's grave, still blaming himself for his death. Asfandyar assumes Meena is planning to return to Canada, having accepted the job offer, but she tells him she wants to stay and help rebuild the school. She then proceeds to propose to Asfandyar. The three then begin to head home.

Cast

* Armeena Khan as Meena khan/Meena Asfandyar Khan * Bilal Ashraf as Asfandyar Asad Khan * Ali Rehman Khan as Daniyal Khan * Hania Aamir as Palwasha Asad Khan/ Palwasha Samir * Usman Mukhtar as Samir * Ajab Gul as Asad Khan * Mishi Khan as Shireen Gul *

Nayyer Ejaz Nayyar Ejaz (or Nayyar Ijaz) () is a Pakistani film and television actor. Nayyar has been working in television industry since the mid-1980s and became a recognized face from the early 1990s. He is famous for his supporting roles, mainly as vi ...

as Ikramullah * Shafqat Khan as Khan Zaada * Saad Zia Abbasi as Chotu * Sabeena Farooq as Imaan (Palwasha's friend) * Fahad Ali Panni * Jalal Khan *Ahsan Farooq

Guest appearance

* Hareem Farooq *

Music

Production

Filming and casting

In May 2015, it was announced that a film named ''Janaan'' is in pre-production phase. In August, the cast and crew was revealed on

Twitter Twitter, officially known as X since 2023, is an American microblogging and social networking service. It is one of the world's largest social media platforms and one of the most-visited websites. Users can share short text messages, image ...

by the producer. Siyaah's team reunited in this film, with Imran Raza Kazmi returning as producer,

as director, and

as writer. An agreement was signed between the production team and

to distribute ''Janaan''. The first spell of shooting began from 21 August in

Islamabad Islamabad (; , ; ) is the capital city of Pakistan. It is the country's tenth-most populous city with a population of over 1.1 million and is federally administered by the Pakistani government as part of the Islamabad Capital Territory. Bu ...

and lasted till 5 September. The second spell started in

Swat A SWAT (''Special Weapons and Tactics'') team is a generic term for a police tactical unit within the United States, though the term has also been used by other nations. SWAT units are generally trained, equipped, and deployed to res ...

valley. The same month Usman Mukhtar and Hania Aamir were cast. ''Janaan'' entered the final phase of its production in mid-October after shooting in Islamabad and Swat.

Reham Khan Reham Nayyar Khan (Urdu/Pashto: ; born 3 April 1973) is a British-Pakistani journalist, author, and filmmaker from Baffa, Pakistan. She is a former wife of Imran Khan, who later became Prime Minister of Pakistan in 2018. The publication of ...

's departure from Pakistan after her divorce with

Imran Khan Imran Ahmed Khan Niazi (born 5 October 1952) is a Pakistani politician, philanthropist, and former cricketer who served as the 19th prime minister of Pakistan from August 2018 until April 2022. He was the founder of the political party Pak ...

questioned the production status of the film but her co-producer Imran Raza Kazmi stated "As the popular phrase goes: 'the show must go on' and putting all and any speculation to rest, I would like to say that this news will not affect the film in any manner whatsoever." Ajab Gul, Jalal Khan and Mishi Khan were revealed as cast with their character names on 7 November. Three new artists appeared in ''Janaan'' for the first time: Hania Aamir, Usman Mukhtar and Saad Zia Abbasi.

Marketing

Film's first look poster featuring Armeena Khan, Bilal Ashraf and Ali Rehman Khan was revealed online while Teaser Trailer on 18 March 2016. Janaan is the first Pakistani film whose teaser was shown on UK TV broadcasting channel

Sky Sports Sky Sports is a group of British broadcasting of sports events, subscription sports channels operated by the satellite television, satellite pay television company Sky Group (a division of Comcast), and is the dominant subscription television ...

2 during the World T20 Cup match between

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

and

on 19 March 2016. Further the teaser was played on Shreya Ghoshal Concerts in UK. The film's theatrical trailer was released on 1 July 2016 on Fahad Mustafa's Jeeto Pakistan show. The trailer was appreciated by critics and film is expected to be a successful endeavor to promote Pashtun culture. The trailer is expected to be played on all Arjit Singh's concerts in UK after its release.

Release

The film was distributed by B4U Films in 17 countries.

distributed it in

. The film was released in the

United Arab Emirates The United Arab Emirates (UAE), or simply the Emirates, is a country in West Asia, in the Middle East, at the eastern end of the Arabian Peninsula. It is a Federal monarchy, federal elective monarchy made up of Emirates of the United Arab E ...

on 8 September 2016, and was shown on limited screens the next day in the United Kingdom, United States, Canada, Australia,

Malaysia Malaysia is a country in Southeast Asia. Featuring the Tanjung Piai, southernmost point of continental Eurasia, it is a federation, federal constitutional monarchy consisting of States and federal territories of Malaysia, 13 states and thre ...

Fiji Fiji, officially the Republic of Fiji, is an island country in Melanesia, part of Oceania in the South Pacific Ocean. It lies about north-northeast of New Zealand. Fiji consists of an archipelago of more than 330 islands—of which about ...

Mauritius Mauritius, officially the Republic of Mauritius, is an island country in the Indian Ocean, about off the southeastern coast of East Africa, east of Madagascar. It includes the main island (also called Mauritius), as well as Rodrigues, Ag ...

, New Zealand, South Africa,

East Africa East Africa, also known as Eastern Africa or the East of Africa, is a region at the eastern edge of the Africa, African continent, distinguished by its unique geographical, historical, and cultural landscape. Defined in varying scopes, the regi ...

, and Singapore. The film was released in Pakistan on 12 September (

), and in India on 16 September.

Box office

The film grossed Rs 300 million ($3 million) worldwide, making it the highest-grossing Pakistani film of 2016. It grossed at least Rs 175 million () in Pakistan and Rs 110 million () overseas. In the United Kingdom, the film grossed () in 2016, making it the year's seventh highest-grossing non-English and non-

Hindi film Hindi cinema, popularly known as Bollywood and formerly as Bombay cinema, is primarily produced in Mumbai. The popular term Bollywood is a portmanteau of "Bombay" (former name of Mumbai) and " Hollywood". The industry, producing films in t ...

in the UK. The UK accounted for about half of the film's overseas gross.

Awards and nominations

References

External links

* {{ARY Films 2010s Urdu-language films Pakistani multilingual films Pakistani romantic comedy films 2016 films 2016 romantic comedy films Films scored by Armaan Malik Films scored by Salim–Sulaiman Pashto-language films Films shot in Islamabad Films shot in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Films directed by Azfar Jafri 2016 multilingual films Urdu-language Pakistani films