Three women defend their home against a 200-strong gang of thugs in writer-director Sarmad Masud’s based-on-a-true-story debut, which centres on a land dispute in rural Pakistan. Nazo (Suhaee Abro) is tough, beautiful and handy with a gun, an “outlaw” as declared by her father (Syed Tanveer Hussain) who trained her before he was jailed. Aided by her younger sister and their mother, she protects the land under siege as a matter of family honour, but the action scenes are awkwardly choreographed and difficult to follow, further hindered by frequent flashbacks that interrupt the pace of the film.
It’s a good idea (a female-centric Pakistani western, shot on location!) that doesn’t quite hang together, though there are things to appreciate, such as Haider Zafar’s cinematography, which captures the gorgeous, stoic Nazo in silhouette at sunset and lit by moonlight.
