Saawan

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Saawan was made available for streaming on Netflix.

Critical reception

The Express Tribune rated the film 2/5, calling it an "ambitious mess that falls face first." The review criticised the poorly-structured screenplay and the cluttering of themes, stating that "in cluttering up the story with so many themes and redundant subplots, Qadri distracts from the main story of Saawan and dilutes its intensity." However, it praised Syed Karam Abbas as "probably the only child actor in Pakistan who I believe can give most mainstream TV and film stars a run for their money," and Najiba Faiz as "brilliant." A separate review for the same publication declared that the film "lacks entertainment, execution and presentation," predicting it would fail at the box office.

Dawn noted that the film "has great potential but far greater problems," observing that "the screenplay by Mashood Qadri moves back and forth in time while including related events into the main plot" and that "by the halfway mark, the story of the boy's resilience becomes a nearly forgotten priority." The review praised Farhan Alam's cinematography, writing that he "captures unending vistas of cascading mountaintops" and that "his actors do the rest, ranging from good to nearly great."

The News International (Instep) commended the film for "presenting compelling issues that are extinct in most parts of the world but continue to persist in this particular country." The review praised the performances of Karam Abbas and Najiba Faiz, but noted that "the one drawback is the film's length and at more than 137 minutes, it needed crisper editing." A separate review for the same publication called it a film that "merits applause" for portraying the harsh reality of children with special needs "with immediacy" and without manipulating emotions.

Youlin Magazine wrote that "what the film lacked in story, dialogue and production value, it made up for in cinematography and art direction," praising shots such as "the aerial view of the landscape, silhouetted figures against a setting sun." The review concluded that "Saawan had potential, but it seems to have been lost somewhere in its genre-jumping, tragedy-documenting, futile theatrics."

MAG The Weekly praised the film's "solid performances" while noting that "had Saawan been 30 minutes short, it would have appealed to the cinema going audience who seem to be more interested in commercial flicks."