Dananeer Mobeen wins Best Actress award in Moscow for Mera Lyari

Dananeer Mobeen has won Best Actress at the second Eurasian Film Awards in Moscow for her role in Mera Lyari, Abu Aleeha’s film about girls who play football in Karachi’s Lyari. The ceremony, also known as the Diamond Butterfly awards, was held on Thursday, 12 November, 24 News reported, and Pakistani outlets carried the news through Friday.

It is a film acting prize for an actor many Pakistanis still know first as the “pawri” girl from a four-second Instagram clip in 2021.

Which award did Dananeer win?

The Eurasian Film Awards are in their second year. This edition had 41 films from 19 countries, according to 24 News, and two Pakistani films were in the running: Mera Lyari and Welcome to Punjab. Dunya News, whose correspondent Shahid Ghuman reported from Moscow, described the win as a milestone for Pakistani cinema.

The prize carries real weight, literally. Director Abu Aleeha said the Diamond Butterfly is worth $250,000, The Current reported, and 24 News wrote that the awards come with five-carat diamonds for winners in different categories. Outlets do not agree on exactly what Dananeer took home, so treat the dollar figure as Aleeha’s description rather than a confirmed cheque.

Pakistan also left the first edition with a prize: Sonya Hussyn won Best Supporting Actress last year for Deemak.

What is Mera Lyari about?

Mera Lyari is Dananeer’s first film. She plays Afsana Baloch, a young woman from Lyari who wants to become a professional footballer despite the social barriers girls in her neighbourhood face. Abu Aleeha wrote and directed it; Waqas Hassan Rizvi and Sania Sohail produced it, Ayesha Omar was executive producer, and the Government of Sindh supported the production. Ayesha Omar and Trinette Lucas are also in the cast.

The film premiered at the UK Asian Film Festival in London and opened in Pakistani cinemas in May.

What did Abu Aleeha say?

Aleeha shared the news on social media and gave the credit to the whole team, calling the win “the result of a complete team effort”. He thanked Ayesha Omar and Waqas Rizvi in particular. In his post he also wrote that when you truly know how to work, God grants you honour even if He calls you from across seven seas.

We could not find a post from Dananeer herself about the award at the time of writing.

Why it matters

Lyari has long made headlines for gang violence. A film that puts its football-mad girls at the centre, winning an acting prize abroad, is a different picture of the neighbourhood, and it lands while Dananeer is on television every week as Hurmat in HUM TV’s Hurmat. For a film made with Sindh government support, an international jury prize is also an argument for backing more films like it. Watch for whether Mera Lyari gets a streaming release now that the award has put it back in the news.