Javed Jabbar’s Beyond the Last Mountain: A Cinematic Gem from the 70s

“And then they sang for her, words of happiness, sounds of sadness and melody of tomorrow’s memories.” Sounds so poetic, right? What if I tell you that these are the opening sentences of a mehendi song from an old forgotten cinematic gem of Pakistan, “Beyond the Last Mountain”?

This mehendi song showcased Pakistani women in their truest form, covered yet modern. Way ahead of its time, if you ask me.

I am talking about Pakistan’s only English-language feature film that was written almost 49 years ago, in 1976, when Pakistan was booming in the modern age. Unfortunately, though, now almost all prints of the film from its time have been lost or discarded. The only surviving copy resides somewhere in New York in the Lincoln Centre Archives.

Beyond the Last Mountain: The Forgotten Cinematic History of Pakistan

Written, produced, and directed by Javed Jabbar, this 1976 film was not just another movie. In the 1970s, Pakistan was a country trying to pick up the pieces after the traumatic break of 1971. Amidst this political and emotional chaos, one man dared to dream beyond the usual.

Thus was born the masterpiece that Pakistan’s cinema has never seen before. Original and literal, Beyond the Last Mountain never got the recognition it deserved.

It was Pakistan’s first English language film, which was shown at the 6th International Film Festival of India in New Delhi. It was also released in the Urdu language with the title “Musafir”.

The actors who took up the main roles of this prestigious film were Usman Peerzada and Shamim Hilaly. The film also featured young Nazia Hassan, who later became the pop icon of Pakistan. If the cast is so iconic, imagine what the film must have been.

Ahead of Its Time, Misunderstood in Its Time

“Beyond the Last Mountain” wasn’t meant for the average cinema-goer looking for glamour, slapstick comedy, or melodrama. It was original (showed the true image of Pakistan in the 70s, a representation not found anymore) and too intellectual.

Maybe that’s exactly why it got lost in the crowd back then.

This wasn’t the kind of film Lollywood was making at the time. It had no gaudy dance numbers, no exaggerated villains, and no over-the-top romance. Instead, it explored the psyche of a young man named Hamid (played by Usman Peerzada), who returns to a politically unstable Karachi only to find his father (a respected politician) assassinated.

What follows is not revenge, but a journey into truth, disillusionment and the meaning of justice in a broken society. A young man searching for the truth and for himself.

Hamid meets four intelligent, self-aware women (no damsel in distress stereotype) from Karachi’s upper-middle class, each with a distinct worldview. This alone is revolutionary on its own, but also ironic of how we have evolved in reverse in our dramas these days.

Pakistani women being shown as thinkers, movers and challengers of the status quo? That’s new!

Tragically, today, so few of us know that a film like this ever existed in our archives. It’s about time we revive our history and cinematic masterpieces instead of running after movies that are not even our own and will never be.

Javed Jabbar’s Legacy Must Live On

The filmmaker, Javed Jabbar, took an immense risk with this film and thankfully so. He could have played it safe and easily made a traditional Lollywood film, but he chose not to.

Ironically, international critics praised it. It was screened at the 6th International Film Festival of India and seen as a bold, fresh experiment in South Asian cinema.

And then… silence.

The film disappeared for decades, and even its prints went missing. If not for archivists in New York’s Lincoln Centre, who found a surviving copy in their vaults in the late 2010s, the film might’ve been lost forever.

Now is our chance to not let Javed Jabbar’s gem go to waste, even if it’s late. According to the Lincoln Archives, after some colour correction, clean up, and remastered sound, the film will be ready to resurface in our era. The era that will surely do justice to the movie, “Beyond the Last Mountain”, deserves.