Adnan Siddiqui, in a recent interview, got candid about the poor cultural ties between India and Pakistan.
“I felt this [ban on cinema exchange] shouldn’t have happened. Politics and entertainment are two different things,” said the veteran actor. “I have nothing to do with politics; my job is to entertain people and I will continue to do that.”
The topic came up when host Mira Sethi asked the Meray Pass Tum Ho star about his experience working with the late Sridevi on the movie Mom, released in 2017.
“It was my third film and Sridevi’s 300th and for her to still be so humble was a big thing,” said Adnan. “I cannot forget the first day on the set, she was sitting outside her vanity van when Boney [Kapoor] — film’s producer and her husband — introduced me to her. She stood up to greet me and gave me a warm welcome. She was very hospitable.”
When asked if he was nervous on the first day, Siddiqui said he was not, adding: “I had done my homework.”
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As the two discussed the shooting of the movie in Delhi, Mumbai, and Georgia, Sethi recalled the time, when Pakistani actors including Mahira Khan, Fawad Khan, and Adnan himself went to India to collaborate.
Talking about that time, Adnan recalled: “There was a time in the 90s when poets from India would come and there would be mushairas. I’ve heard Jagjit Sahab sing in the 80s in Pakistan.”
“Then there was a time when Sushmita Sen and Saif Ali Khan came here,” said Siddiqui further, going on to list other celebs from across the border who visited Pakistan. “The artists’ exchange program was very good.”
“We watch their [Indian] movies,” said the actor, cheekily adding “not their dramas”. “They watch our dramas very enthusiastically. And it’s still happening but under wraps.”
“I would like to add that when it comes to tolerance, I feel we Pakistanis are more tolerant,” said Adnan further. “I was saddened that even a personal video call between two celebs of Pakistan and India, who share a friendship and know each other, was forbidden. What is this insecurity that even this is not allowed?”
Turning to the camera, Adnan, addressing Indians with a smile, said: “Bharat walon, thora sa tolerance level barhain [People of India, increase your tolerance level]”.
In 2018, the Indian Motion Pictures Producers’ Association (IMPPA) had refused to withdraw its ban on Pakistani artistes working in India. The ban came in 2016, right before the release of Fawad Khan’s Ae Dil Hai Mushkil and Mahira Khan’s Raees.
Last year, when several Indian and Pakistani artists started collaborating online, the Federation of Western India Cine Employees (FWICE) issued “a total non-cooperation circular advising all members not to work in any manner whatsoever with all Pakistani artistes, singers, and technicians”.
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