KARACHI: These days, film premieres are few and far between. This is not a good sign for Pakistan`s movie industry. Against this backdrop, the premiere for the film Gunjal directed by Shoaib Sultan on Friday evening at Neuplex cinema assumed significance.

Although it was not as big an event as premieres usually are with a large red carpet rolled out, the decent amount of showbiz celebs and media personnel turned it into a nice little experience. The star of the movie Ahmed Ali Akbar (of Parizaad fame) was getting the most attention from pen-pushers, shutterbugs and his fellow Pakistani actors. The rest of the cast of the film is: Amna Ilyas, Resham, Ahmed Ali Butt and Samiya Mumtaz.

Talking to Dawn about the plot of Gunjal, Sultan said, `We are celebrating Iqbal Masih, who is a hero, a bonded labourer. He was murdered. The story revolves around him, his journey and his legacy. It`s his story but we have packaged it in a crime drama/thriller genre. We have created a fictionalised world. Shahbaz Bhatti (Akbar) is a crime journalist in the film.He is investigating the child`s story.

As far as the genesis of the project goes, the director said the producer of Gunjal, Nighat Akbar Shah, wanted to talk about child labour and discussed it with him. And then the idea was pitched.

Given the gist of the storyline, the box office does not seem to be at the top of the makers` priority list. Sultan said, `We don`t actually think about the box office because we want to tell the story. We have treated it in a different, non-linear way.

On the cast of movie, he said, `We tried to bring together commercial and art-house [artists] because our content is a bit art-house.

The film-maker was of the view that the revival of cinema in Pakistan is not easy, but `we need to create our own cinema, just like there is Iranian or Japanese cinema. This means films such as Kamli can help us carve our own identity.

After the chitchat and photo sessions with the cast and crew of the movie, the guests walked into two cinema halls where the film was screened. Another good thing was that the film started on time, that is, the time mentioned on the invite to the premiere.

Gunjal had its nationwide release on Friday.