Operation 021 comes as a pleasant audio-visual treat.#O21 is not for those who keep their brains at home when they come to a movie theater.Half of the people will not like it, whereas the other half will simply love it. Luckily I am from the second half.Story & Direction: It is not the usual "find the chip flick" but instead it intelligently highlights the intricacies of Geo-political scene of the region.Jami does a great job in handling the script crisply & keeps you guessing at all times. The movie is visually stunning, just a shade darker for my liking.Music Score: No songs, yes NO songs. Yet the movie has background music for at least 90% of the time. The music score gels in superbly and builds to the feel of the movie.#O21 is not a spoon feeder and requires your complete attention throughout.The Pakistani Cinema is evolving and this educating masterpiece by Jami is even better than many much-hyped Hollywood flicks.A MUST watch for the learned ! Awaiting its International release.

I went in to the cinema having read all the reviews and social media updates, most of them bad, some of them good. Half expecting the bad ones to be accurate but, actually hoping for the good ones to be true. And, from the minute it started to the very last shot, I was IMPRESSED. Such intelligent film-making I did not expect. The production quality, the sound, the music were the first few things I noticed...blown away! I'm not surprised that the acting was great but, what I was happy to see was that it wasn't over the top, it wasn't forced in any scene, it was just right. And, oh the shots, those trucks blowing up in that early morning shot, ALL of the aerial shots, every shot of Khyber hotel, every shot with Ayub Khosa in it... With all of the recent Pakistani movies (except Zinda Bhaag) if there is one thing I've found lacking is how the story comes together, the editing, the cohesiveness but, 021 gets really good marks there which must have been no easy feat considering the parallel story lines that finally meet at the end...and with such finesse. There are people who won't like it or will be bored, which is also fine because not every genre appeals to everyone. However, I for one am super proud that this country is finally making films that can easily stand up on their own and be evaluated for the work of art rather than being applauded just because they are Pakistani. Really really well done!!! I cannot wait to see more from Jami.

Rating 9/10Highly Recommended"Is 500 Rs. ticket going to be worth it ?" This was the thought when i entered cinema hall for 021."Even 5000 Rs. ticket was lesser for the show Jami showed" was my thought when i stepped out of cinema hall.Taking Pakistani film industry to a whole new level,021 has set a new benchmark.Being a student of cinema and film, i feel immensely happy for this film. 021 SHOULD NOT be taken only as a film but it's a starting point of a whole new level for Pakistani cinema.What to talk of Bollywood here,Jami has given us a stuff that can be directly compared to Hollywood. This is the beginning of a wonderful film era in Pakistan. Being very very critical, i failed to find out logical errors in 021. Being a critic is very very easy but being the one to give solutions is very tough.I , personally , would request the critics of this film to even give 10 Percent of this film. I know they will fail badly.Bashing efforts is very easy,taking a step ahead is very tough. Every single film maker who is filming in Pakistan these days is doing a HUGE favor to cinema of this country and to the cinema lovers. They should be thanked anyways. 021 is something more special.Something to be watched while staying alert for the first 12 minutes,leave the rest on the director. It is a spell bounding film. A film is a great film when it changes your perceptions and reshapes your thinking patterns,apart of just a film,021 has done that.In the end i would like this film to be declared as Highly recommended and i will be anxiously waiting for more films from Jami.Huge Respect for Azad films company and the entire crew.

021 To be candid about this, I think this film is a lean, mean, menacing beast of a film. It rivets your attention from the opening to the end and the screws of tension are relentlessly and smartly tightened. It also asks you to keep paying constant attention, it's not a film where there maybe scenes where one can relax on a consistent basis and yet be able to understand the action of its plot unfolding.As I am still trying to fully grapple with the film, and yet I feel like writing a response.From the release of Khuda Kay Liye (in the name of God)till date all the films released in the name of revival of cinema in Pakistan have made me respond with Khuda Kay Wastay Aisi filmain mat banaoo (Dont make boring films in the name of God), I was quite sure that we will keep fooling ourselves, people across the border will keep lying to us by looking at our pathetic craft and skill and we will blindly keep believing that we are at the zenith of our artistic craft.However, this film is in many ways remarkable. It is able to tell a fictional story provoked by something very real from reality. And it tells that story using the form of a Menacing thriller. Where the loyalties of the characters seem to swing, events don't always turn out as the characters expect them to or we.One of the main skills of Direction is to be able to construct illusion of reality and therefore allowing the audience to suspend their disbelief for the period of the film's duration. It is quite apparent by watching 90% of the films released in the name of revival had this basic ingredient missing. And once that is the case, no matter how witty, how original, how slick, how good-looking a film maybe, it is and it can only be a serious disappointment only, regardless of what genre it belongs to.The performances within this film from the smallest character such as Vajdaan Shah's character are remarkably convincing in what they do, none of the actors seem to be forcing themselves to act well and yet they do. I teach Directing actors as a course, I can assure some serious work has been put into it. And that is how it should be. Actors must bring the ring of real life behavior to the character they play and the actions they perform, even when those things may not be close to you as a person.Scoring is like another character, it participates in the effective telling of this narrative in such a crucial way, that it is heartening to see someone thinking of sound as a storytelling device rather than a tool of enhancement only.I like Jami's videos, most of us did. But since I'm in the business of teaching most of the things related with making a film, cannot help but find areas of slack and criticize it for everyone's benefit. Though when I reflect more, I might find some nagging areas of concern where things could have been better. What I am sure of, whatever I may find if I find any would not be able to take away any of the serious power of the film away for me. I may edit some bits here and there later, I'm half asleep as wrote this, but felt the urge to write it now.