He called its trailer ‘cringe-worthy’ and ‘trashy’.

The trailer of Hareem Farooq’s upcoming film Mango Jutt has sparked controversy after filmmaker Ali Sajjad Shah, popularly known as Abu Aleeha, criticized the project and claimed that the final film was changed significantly from his original version.

The trailer was released on Wednesday and received mixed reactions. Shah, who was reportedly the original director of the film, described the trailer as “cringe-worthy” and “trashy” in an Instagram story posted on Friday.

Speaking to Images, Shah went further and claimed that the film itself was worse than the trailer.

According to the filmmaker, Mango Jutt was originally his idea and he began working on the project around three and a half years ago. He said he wrote the script, selected the cast and brought Hareem Farooq on board as both an actor and co-producer.

Shah said filming was completed around two and a half years ago, followed by the completion of his edit about four months later.

A May 2024 Instagram post by actor Shamoon Abbasi, who plays the antagonist in the film, had also credited Shah as the director and mentioned that filming had been completed.

Dispute Over the Final Edit

Shah claimed that Farooq’s team later suggested sending the film to India for additional editing. According to him, the revised edit returned about a year later and he considered it “very bad.”

He said his original story focused heavily on Ayesha Jehanzeb’s character, but more than half of her scenes were removed in the Indian edit. He also claimed that Maira Bangash’s scenes were similarly reduced.

Shah said he objected to the changes and told the team that he did not accept the new version. He added that other disagreements also emerged during the process.

Punjab Government Funding

The filmmaker further claimed that the Punjab government later provided Rs30 million in funding for the project, after which he was asked to shoot additional scenes to justify the funding.

Shah said he refused because he believed the proposed opening sequence was not feasible.

He also pointed to changes in Faysal Quraishi’s appearance. According to Shah, Quraishi had originally built muscle and grown a beard for his role. However, by the time additional filming was proposed, the actor had changed his appearance for other projects.

Shah said the disagreements eventually led him to leave the project, which continued without him.

Hareem Farooq Responds to Credit Question

The controversy grew after journalist Ambreen Fatima shared a video clip in which she asked Hareem Farooq why Shah’s name was missing from the trailer credits.

Farooq laughed and responded that whoever worked on the film would have their name in the credits.

When asked for further details, Farooq said she could not say much at the moment but suggested that “a lot of things” would come to light soon.

Images reported that it had contacted Farooq for a response to Shah’s allegations but had not received a reply at the time of publication.

The dispute has now raised questions about the film’s production history, editing process and the reasons behind Shah’s departure from Mango Jutt.