Shiny Toy Guns [#STG] reveal the teaser poster and cast and crew for their debut cinematic feature – Asad-ul-Haq’s “Dekh Magar Pyaar Say” [#DMPS]

Headed by one of the leading advertising filmmaker Asad-ul-Haq and prominent marketer Ali Murtaza, Pakistan’s leading motion-picture house Shiny Toy Guns [#STG] proudly reveal the cast and crew for their debut cinematic venture, “Dekh Magar Pyaar Say” [#DMPS] – An Asad-ul-Haq film.

Slated for a 2015 release, #DMPS is set to begin production from April 2015 and is directed by Asad-ul-Haq himself, marking his cinematic debut as a director, with STG producing, financing and developing their debut venture completely in-house.

#STG have signed up award-winning actress and Pakistani silver screen luminary Humaima Mallick, making #DMPS her second Pakistani film, alongside upcoming actor Sikander Rizvi, grandson of the legendary Madam Noor Jehan and brother of Bollywood actress Sonya Jehan and currently one of most Pakistan’s most eligible bachelors, who will be making his much anticipated cinematic debut with #DMPS. Both Humaima Mallick and Sikander Rizvi will be portraying the motion picture’s main protagonists, whose journey of love is humorously chartered through the romantic city of Lahore.

#STG have further roped in the iconic Saima Rashid Bargfrede as the motion picture’s Official Styling Partner along with Pakistan’s leading design house, HSY and fashion designer Hassan Sheheryar Yasin as the Creative and Fashion Design Director for #DMPS, a collaborative association which is unique to Pakistani cinema. The script for #DMPS has been penned by writer and journalist Saba Imtiaz, who recently released her debut novel, ‘Karachi, You’re Killing Me!’ with BAFTA winning Director of Photography, Nicholas D. Knowland [aka Nic Knowland] of Jinnah fame as the official DoP of the project.

Set and produced entirely in Lahore, #DMPS will be a romantic-comedy, a genre which has not been recently explored by Pakistani auteurs, where #STG aims to showcase the beautiful culture and history of the heart of Pakistan, Lahore.

Speaking about the project, Director Asad-ul-Haq of STG said, “‘Dekh Magar Pyaar Say’ is based in the cultural capital of Pakistan and will be featuring a spanking brand new outlook on the traditional romantic movie, one that is filled with twists, turns, surprises and everything in between, all the while debunking established clichés associated with the romance genre.” Director Asad-ul-Haq further added, “I envisioned an avant-garde look & a strong, imaginative storyline for my brain-child, ‘Dekh Magar Pyaar Say’ anchored in an uber-stylised contemporary hyper reality & I thought, what could be the best way to go about it? The answer was instant. You gather your usual suspects to make it happen!”

“We are really happy and excited that our first project is now in production! As we highlighted earlier, ‘Dekh Magar Pyaar Say’ is all set in Lahore and will showcase the beautiful loving culture and history of the city in a slick and modern production design which the world is waiting to see. The film will be a complete family entertainer but the most important aspect is that the story is completely embedded in our culture.” said Ali Murtaza on behalf of STG.

“I always love working with specialists like Asad who I feel are not only share my artistic point of view but have also exhibited a constant desire for creativity. I believe that the essence of a good movie is attention to detail which I have observed being actively practiced in this project. It also excites me to learn that this is the first time in Pakistan that a design house [HSY] has been engaged as the “creative director” for a movie, a trend we believe will hopefully bring back the glory days of our movie industry” said Hassan Sheheryar Yasin.

“It’s heartening to see STG not only revive a film genre neglected in recent years but also reboot the much needed studio culture that exists in film industries all over the world. Starting from DMPS leading to many other projects, Asad and Ali are going to carve a new film landscape for Pakistan” said Ammara Hikmat at Encyclomedia, strategic partner for #DMPS.

“I was impressed with Asad and Ali’s vision in choosing the best talent and technicians for this title, and am thrilled to collaborate with them on this project. Given our company’s 50 years of experience in the film distribution, production and exhibition line, I’m really looking forward to releasing the film worldwide” said Hammad Chaudhry of HKC Entertainment, Global Distributor for #DMPS.

Originally based out of Singapore and recently launched in Pakistan, Shiny Toy Guns endeavours to create and to provide a platform to launch and support talent related to art of filmmaking and motion pictures, be it directors, actors, producers or writers.

Creative Chaos are official digital partners for #DMPS with Ammara Hikmat at Encyclomedia as the strategic partner, Hammad Chaudhry of HKC Entertainment as the official global film distributor and all media management by Lotus Client Management & Public Relations.