Sharmeen Obaid defends stance on Turkish actors

Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy continues to defend her stance on Turkish actor despite receiving immense backlash and criticism.

In a series of stories on Instagram, Chinoy backed her opinion questioning her followers and presenting facts.

“Let’s play a game,” wrote the award-winning director before questioning how many Pakistani films were made in 2020 and how many brands slashed their budgets last year.

Chinoy then went onto say that “every industry that the government want to see grow has protections” because of which imports are taxed and/or discouraged.

“When you have budgets and work for Pakistani actors, then begin to import foreign ones,” continued the filmmaker. “Bollywood and Hollywood can afford to do that – we cannot.”

She then urged her followers to invest in “your own people and industry first”.

“I welcome the day when our industry will thrive and we will afford to welcome talent from overseas but not when I see our own struggling without work,” she added.

“Too bad the truth isn’t always pretty,” concluded Chinoy.

Sharmeen’s comments come after she was trolled for disapproving Peshawar Zalmi’s decision to appoint Esra Bilgiç as the face of the team.

“I find this hilarious!,” Sharmeen had said. “A Turkish actress whose country doesn’t even play the sport will now be a mascot for cricket.”

“What happened to Pakistani actresses by the way?” she said further. “Did they all disappear that we have to get foreign ones? Whatever is left of our industry will die if you keep paying Turkish actors for jobs Pakistani actors can do!”

Diriliş: Ertuğrul has been trending in Pakistan ever since its first episode aired on PTV Home in Ramzan 2020. Pakistanis are loving the drama series and it has become a sensation in the country. According to some estimates, millions of people have tuned in to watch the show on PTV and YouTube.

Recently, several Turkish actors from the super hit series Diriliş: Ertuğrul have visited Pakistan for different purposes. From Engin Altan Düzyatan (Ertuğrul Bey) to Cavit Çetin Güner (Dogan Alp) and Celal AL (Abdur Rehman Alp), almost every prominent actor from the drama series has visited different cities of the country.

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