*ing: Shan, Saima, Bahar, Shafqat Cheema, Nawaz Khan
Syed Noor's comeback vehicle, Shareeka opened over Eid this year, and at a time when making movies is simply risky business, Noor remains determined to continue upon this road, whatever the financial results. “I really don't know how to do anything else,” he told this scribe during the shoot of Shareeka at the Shabab Studios, Lahore.

Shareeka is the story of four families living together under the joint family system in a big house. As we all know well, the joint family system has ever been the norm in Pakistan. With children growing up, attentions switch to grandchildren and so on.  Kishwar is the matriarch of the family, and is hugely respected by them, but in return has only hatred and prejudice for them. Her son Zia (Nawaz Khan), is proud of his family, and condescending towards his cousins and uncles. Zia himself is no prize, and is involved in the land mafia business and enjoys the company of prostitutes. In an attempt to power grab, he challenges a resourceful local gang led by Shafqat Cheema. The bloodshed that ensues costs several lives of Zia's family members, but Kishwar blames no one but her relatives whom she accuses of wishing her family ill.

On the other end of things, Roshan (Shan) has been living in exile for years, with Kishwar being the major hindrance in Roshan's return to the ancestral haveli. Roshan manages to return to the fore, and a tug of war commences between him and Zia over matters of influence. Kiran (Saima) was engaged to Roshan in their childhood but Zia wishes to marry her now. Viewing the situation among the families as a potentially explosive one, the grandfather (Mustafa Qureshi) tries to establish peace between the warring parties, but his every effort is rejected with an analogy which roughly translates to: 'an eagle and pigeon cannot be equal'.

Eventually though, a calamitous strike by Shafqat Cheema and his thugs results in Kishwar concluding how wrong she had been all along in her approach. We, the audience, are told that divisions between a community will always be disastrous as prosperity can only be achieved by living in harmony.

The film has been doing on the local circuit, as viewers find the story of a family refreshing after long being subjected to gujjar-based movies. As mentioned before, the joint family subject hits rather close to home in Pakistan and thus this is one of the biggest selling points of Shareeka. No doubt this is a family film, but families must be forewarned that the film contains a mujra or two. In a society where sociocultural norms differ from station to station, certain kinds of scenes and approaches in film can be tricky to handle, apart from maybe the supposedly broader-minded denizens of Karachi, Lahore or Rawalpindi. That's the reason the women make up less of the audience than they would for a soft romantic film.

Shareeka's photography is not up to the mark, but good direction and acting makes up for it. Bahar, as the head bahu gave one of the best performances of her life.

“In my long artistic career, it was the first role that was challenging enough to unnerve me with its several, subtle nuances.”  Bahar Begum told Instep. The actress also admitted to minimal to zero rehearsing, as while Syed Noor outlined the character for her, he did not explain the character's situation fully.

Apart from Bahar, it was the villains' team comprising Nawaz Khan, Shafqat Cheema, Babar Butt, Wali (new face), and Zahir Shah that contribute greatly to the success of this film. Nawaz Khan and Shafqat Cheema earn full marks, as the audience can't help but applaud their performance continually. Shareeka is proof in Technicolour that Pakistan has the potential when it comes to elevating film to art again, but third-rate directors and subjects fail to realize that potential. For the villains' team, it would be fair to say that the 'soldiers win the war but credit goes to the general'.

However, certainly there are some flaws in the film. First off, the music is not the best. The song, 'Mein Katchay Gharay Thee Machchi Aan' had already been picturized on Saima in Daku Rani. Secondly, some of the songs are not situational as they were in Choorian, Jeewa, Ghoonghat, and Mehndi Walay Hath. Thirdly, Shan's got enough talent and experience to be more than just a filler; it is beyond a shadow of doubt that he still enjoys popularity and market value.

Shareeka brought back that lively spark that missed from theatres that show local films and producers will find themselves profiting after a long time. “We tried our best to offer 1.1million rupees for our cinema for this film but they didn't agree. Now hopefully the exhibitor party will recover the revenue more than our offer”, said Shahbaz Khan, the manager of Kashmir Mahal cinema. He, however, has some reservations about the film as it has 17 parts, which means it is over three hours long. “It would be better if some unnecessary scenes be chopped off to add to the quality,” says Shahbaz Khan.  “Ek Tha Tiger is just an hour and 45 minutes long but doing well on the circuit.”

Shareeka manages to be a decent flick despite the many setbacks it faced while shooting.  “Loadshedding remained our biggest problem,” says Noor. “The artists would be ready to perform, but the flighty electricity situation would break the tempo.” Syed Noor has a request for Pakistani cinema-goers as well. “You must go and watch our movies in cinemas to encourage us,” he says. “The financial recovery will boost our courage and encourage the long-awaited revival of Pakistani cinema.”