| Aina | |
| Director: | Nazar-ul-Islam |
| Producer: | Rauf Ahmed Shamsi |
| Cinematography: | Afzal Chaudhry |
| Editing: | Irshad Durrani |
| Music: | Robin Ghosh |
| Runtime: | 147 minutes |
| Country: | Pakistan |
| Language: | Urdu |
Aina, (Urdu: {{Nastaliq|آئینہ) also known as The Mirror, is a 1977[1] Pakistani romantic drama film directed by Nazar-ul-Islam and starring Nadeem and Shabnam. Singers are Mehdi Hassan, Mehnaz, Nayyara Noor and Alamgir. The film was a major box-office success primarily due to its music which was composed by Robin Ghosh.[2] It became the longest-running Pakistani film at the cinemas. The movie is based on the 1973 Hindi movie Aa Gale Lag Jaa and went on to be remade in Hindi in 1985 as Pyar Jhukta Nahin.[3]
At annual Nigar Awards, the film received 12 awards including, best film, best director, best actor, best actress, best supporting actress and best playback singer. It topped the British Film Institute's users' poll of "Top ten Pakistani films of all times" in 2002.
Aina is a love story of two hearts and two souls but from two different social classes, one being a daughter of a business tycoon i.e. Rita (Shabnam) and one being a realistic, self-confident and a little bit arrogant poor young man, Iqbal (Nadeem). Rita is a leisure girl whereas Nadeem works as a hotel receptionist and they both fall in love. The entire movie is about how a rich girl and poor man fell in love and the struggles that comes after their marriage.
The film was a musical success as well and has trademark song visualizations from director Nazar-ul-Islam. The music was composed by Robin Ghosh, and the playback singers were Mehdi Hassan, Mehnaz, Alamgir, Nayyara Noor and Akhlaq Ahmed. The theme song is "" sung in a happy mood, sad mood and another song version sung by the child star at the climax of the movie. And The Lyrics Were written by Tasleem Fazli.[4]
Aina was released on 18 March 1977 in Pakistani cinemas. In Karachi, it was released on two main cinemas Bambino and Scala.
Aina is Pakistan's only Urdu film to have a crown jubilee (a mega-hit film) with a total running period of 401 weeks on all cinemas and 48 weeks on the main cinema in Karachi. The film had broken all the previous box office records and no Pakistani film has touched that record again till date.
Mushtaq Gazdar, a well-known film critic, in his book 'Pakistan Cinema 1947 - 1997', Oxford University Press, 1997 said:
"In Aina, Nazrul infused a romantic note through the songs using the elements of nature as tools to enhance their impact. His use of open spaces to create the mood of the scenes in contrast with the normal lip-sync presentation of songs greatly appealed to the audience."
This movie was so popular that it was shown in Karachi Cinemas for almost 8 consecutive years (401 consecutive weeks). The film ran to packed crowds in theaters across China as well. In the 1990s it was telecast in Bangladesh Television.
In 2002, the film topped the users' poll of "Top ten Pakistani films" conducted by British Film Institute.[5] The film was also ranked among the critics' poll of the institute.[6]
One of its songs "" sung by Mehdi Hassan won Nigar Award for the best song of the year 1977. In total the film won 12 awards:
| Award | Awardee | |
|---|---|---|
| Best Movie for the year 1977[7] | Producer: M. Ahmed Shamsi | |
| Best Director | Nazar-ul-Islam | |
| Best Dialogues/Screenplay | ٌٌٌٌBashir Niaz | |
| Best Actress | Shabnam | |
| Best Actor | Nadeem | |
| Best Supporting Actor | Rehan | |
| Best Musician | Robin Ghosh | |
| Best songwriter-lyricist | Tasleem Fazli (for the song: "Mujhe dil se na bhulana...") | |
| Best photography/cinematography | Afzal Chaudhry | |
| Best playback singer | Mehdi Hassan (for the song: "Mujhe dil se na bhulana...") | |
| Best upcoming singer | Alamgir (for the song: "Wada karo saajna...") | |
| Special award | Shahzeb (child star) |
The 1998 Pakistani film Nikah, directed by Sangeeta, was loosely based on Aina. Another remake was made in 2013 with the same name, which starred Faisal Qureshi, Saba Qamar, directed by Sarmad Sultan Khoosat and produced by A & B Entertainment.
In April 2017, director Syed Noor announced a sequel to the film, tentatively known as Aina 2. Noor told The Express Tribune, "Of course, Aina 2 will further the story told in Aina with the original star cast members as well as some new faces. Also, we’re planning on filming it in Canada this time."[8]