- Teefa in Trouble is the directorial debut of Ahsan Rahim, who is known for directing music videos and television commercials with several Pakistani artists under his Tadpole Films banner.
- This is also a debut film of Maya Ali Pakistani film debuts. It is also the debut film under Zafar’s banner Lightingale Productions.
- Pre-production work began in 2016 when Zafar, Rahim and Danyal Zafar wrote the story and screenplay.
- Principal photography took place in Lahore and Warsaw between 18 February and 26 July 2017. Ali Zafar also created the music, while Shani Arshad composed the film score.
- It is the first non-Indian film that Yash Raj Films distributed internationally.
- The film trailer was released on 14 June 2018 across 1200 screens worldwide.
- Teefa in Trouble was released across 24 countries on 20 July, including some countries where this is the first Pakistani film, while in UAE on 19 July.
- On 1 December 2018, the film was released in India and worldwide on Netflix, except in Pakistan and China. It was released on Iflix in Pakistan on 4 January 2019. It premiered on television by Geo Entertainment on 19 January. It was made available on Netflix Pakistan on 30 January 2020. To mark its third anniversary, ARY Digital aired the film on 21 July 2021, Eid al-Adha Day 1.
- At the time of its release, it was one of the most expensive Pakistani films ever made.
- It became the third Pakistani film to cross the Rs. 50 crore mark, despite facing protests and film piracy afterward.
Tracklisting
- Chan Ve
- Item Number
- Butt Sahab
- Sajna Door
- Ishq Nachaunda
- Nahin Jaana” (Traditional)
Protests
Protests marked the premieres of Teefa in Trouble in Karachi and Lahore by activists who boycotted the film over the sexual harassment allegations against Ali Zafar by Meesha Shafi, which Zafar denied. Reports had also emerged that some demonstrators were physically and verbally abused at the protest. In one instance, the demonstrators asked Waleed Zaman, the creative director of women’s clothing brand Kayseria, the reason why he was backing the film, to which Zaman responded by saying, “We support sexual harassment of women.” He later apologized for his comments.
Piracy
Teefa in Trouble was largely unauthorized and was available on multiple streaming websites after its release, including YouTube and Facebook. The production team also posted a warning notice and initiated the step against the piracy of all Pakistani films.
Awards show controversies
The nominations for the 2019 Lux Style Awards sparked social media due to Zafar’s name in it. Many celebrities called out for either boycotting the awards or rejecting their nominations. Director Ahsan Rahim shared that widely acclaimed film music not being nominated is a disappointment, and asked for the deserving ones. The award show commented to respect the decisions of the jury as well as wait for the legal decision of the harassment case.
