NAYAB Film: Nayab is the first big commercial release of 2024 in which Yumna Zaidi made her debut in the film industry. This film’s story revolves around a girl named “Nayab” who is from a lower middle-class family residing in Karachi and despite her background, she is passionate about making her place in the women’s national cricket team of Pakistan.
This film explores unfulfilled dreams, societal norms, and deep down, the bonds in our lives that help us continue in a harsh and unforgiving world. Before seeing the movie, the sketch of it in my mind was to be a movie that would open more avenues for women’s participation in all aspects of society and decrease the gender gap present in Pakistan.
In the movie, Nayab is portrayed as a young girl passionate about playing cricket at the national level for Pakistan. Her character is shown as brave, sincere, and yet struggling due to societal constraints and family problems.
Her elder brother helps her to achieve her dream but other family members are shown as creating hurdles in her way like Nayab’s parents want her to married as soon as possible as it is a societal norm. Nayab’s brother supports her despite society’s harsh realities and financial constraints.
The movie’s first half presents its strong message, but after intermission, the story is caught in multiple other topics like family matters and brain drain from Pakistan.
NAYAB Film: First Half of the Film
Due to this, the film, which up until that point had quite effectively grasped the story of Nayab and her goal to become one of Pakistan’s top sportspeople, becomes weaker in its storytelling. Perhaps, effective editing to reduce the film’s runtime and minimize the reliance on additional songs and patriotic lingo would have made the story much crisper.
The lead cast of the movie Yumna Zaidi, Muhammad Fawad Khan, Hamna Ayoub, and Jawad Shiekh gave stunning performances and a supporting cast. The direction of Umair Nasir Ali and the Cinematography were also perfect.
Despite the faults and de-tracking of the story, the movie still holds an immense potential to change the mindset of society towards gender and sports. Nayab is the only sports movie that gained record commercial benefits, the other sports movies like Shah and Main Hon Afridi did not score noticeable numbers commercially.
The Pakistani film industry is infrequent to produce such movies which requires in-depth research and deep efforts. According to the director, Yumna Zaidi rejected multiple movie proposals and accepted this one because it holds strong content and message. That’s why we can say that NAYAB is a fresh breath for the Pakistani film industry.
The message in this movie is very relevant to the ground realities of Pakistani society. Gender inequality in every field of life is a prominent issue in this society, especially in sports.
Strong Message in the Movie:
The movie gave a strong message that women should be given a chance to prove themselves and societal norms that are hurdles in this way should be dealt with. Family is first and foremost support for any girl who wants to contribute to society; their support is necessary.
It holds a message for young girls or anyone else out there that if someone wants to achieve their dreams, they have to be courageous to face the difficulties that will come along the success. The messages hidden in the story hold the potential to drive society toward a more gender-mainstreamed and progressive society.
Gender equality is very important for any society because leaving half the population of society sidelined from participating in society socially, politically, or economically will only lead to the downfall. For progress and prosperity, the empowerment of all segments of society is very necessary.
Gender mainstreaming and equality ensure it. For this knowledge about gender equality is very necessary, which has been given in this movie to the viewers. Such productions should be supported due to their societal importance. I will recommend watching this movie as it promises to be a huge family entertainer as well as a social film.
By Abdullah Sayyaf
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