Javed Akhtar said that the melody queen Lata Mangeshkar was very popular in Pakistan in the 60s and 70s, but didn’t perform there even once. As per the government sources, Abir Gulaal, featuring Pakistani star Fawad Khan, will not be allowed to release in theatres in India after the Pahalgam attack.
Javed Akhtar on whether Pakistani aristes should be allowed to work in India
“Should we allow Pakistani artists to work here?” That, lyricist Javed Akhtar said on Tuesday, is the question to be asked in the wake of the Pahalgam terror attack. There is hardly “any warmth today” in India-Pakistan cultural ties, the veteran screenwriter-poet noted while saying that this is not the time to even think about whether Pakistani artists should be allowed to work in India. “This could be thought about in better times, and hopefully, after some years, some sense will prevail. And there’ll be a better attitude towards India from the establishment of Pakistan. And then this can be considered. But at the moment, this question should not be asked. Not possible,” Akhtar told PTI in an interview. He added that Pakistani artists such as Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan, Mehdi Hassan, Ghulam Ali and Noor Jehan were welcomed with open arms by Indian authorities in the past, but this wasn’t reciprocated by the Pakistani establishment.
Akhtar’s comments come after government sources said last week that Abir Gulaal, featuring Pakistani star Fawad Khan, will not be allowed to release in theatres in India. The move comes amid growing calls for a ban on the movie, earlier slated for release on May 9, in the aftermath of terrorists gunning down 26 people in Kashmir’s picturesque Pahalgam mountains on April 22. Asked whether the ban is fair, Akhtar said there would be a better time for this discussion. “Particularly whatever has happened recently after that (it) should not even be a topic at the moment. There is hardly any friendly feeling or warmth because of what has happened in Pahalgam,” he told PTI on the sidelines of the IP and Music: Feel the beat of IP event organised by FICCI.
“The question should be, should we allow Pakistani artists to work here?” Discussing the great reception Indians have always given to great Pakistani artistes, he also referred to Faiz Ahmed Faiz as a poet of the subcontinent. “I won’t say Pakistani poet. He was living in Pakistan because he was born there. But he was the poet of the subcontinent, a poet of peace and love. When he came to India, during Mr Atal Bihari Vajpayee’s prime m
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