I want more Pakistani actors coming to India: Ali Zafar
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Ali Zafar was India's favourite Pakistani pinup boy long before Fawad Khan entered Bollywood and took the country by storm - but Ali sees 'Viku's' success as a big plus for Pakistan.
The Total Siyapaa leading man insists that the two are friends and there is no place for animosity between them.
"I had supported his movie [Khoobsurat] on social media. I pray to God that he gets more offers," Ali told Hindustan Times.
Ali further says that Fawad's entry into Bollywood was fitting for the actor, with the makers of the movie projecting him well. He added that when he used to watch Fawad on-screen back home, he felt the actor deserved more success.
"Fawad has a big fan base, and it’s because of him that his recent film, Khoobsurat, has fared well back home (in Pakistan). Here, in India, too, girls are crazy about him."
Ali, who is currently promoting his upcoming movie, Kill Dill starring Ranveer Singh and Parineeti Chopra, also said this is an extremely fruitful time for Pakistani actors to work in Indian cinema and vice versa.
"I want more Pakistani actors to come to India. The more that happens, the more we will be able to understand each other."
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On DawnNews
Comments (73) Closed
Oct 09, 2014 01:40pm
All Pakistani Artists are Welcome.Pakistanis as individuals are good people
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Oct 09, 2014 02:11pm
Fawad took the country by storm ... woow and no one in India is aware of the storm . The movie came and went silently .
But as an Indian I would like to see more Pakistanis in Bollywood and more interaction between two countries. Individually there is lot of respect for each other. My friends tell me the hospitality they received in Lahore when Indian cricket team visited Pakistan last time.
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Oct 09, 2014 02:13pm
Good people are always welcome .....and they should always be free to roam around...... but please don't send the another type of people as India is 1000 times safer place than majority of so called Islamic countries.
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Oct 09, 2014 02:33pm
Almost all the Pakistanis claim that Pakistan has every what India have then why these artist feel proud of getting roles in Indian movies. Why can't they make their own film industry grow so they don't have to come here. I feel Pakistani actors are good for TV Serials only.
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Oct 09, 2014 02:42pm
I think that if Pakistan continues to shell the LoC, the welcome mat for Pak artists won't stay for very long.
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Oct 09, 2014 02:47pm
Fawad's a girly hero, but Ali Zafar rocks! In fact, I wonder why he's not getting right scripts... I hop after Tere Bin Laden, he gets his due with Kill Dil. I like Ali's comic turn!
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Oct 09, 2014 02:57pm
NO NO NO,
All Pakistani actors are requested to Stay in your Heaven called Pakistan, Leave us Indians alone, we don't like Pakistani Actors at all, also take away along with you Adnan Sami who is Living in India.
The above Indians who commented & welcomed Pakistani actors are naive and have to answer for the Blood of the 200 innocents Killed by Pakistani and the NOW going on killing of our villagers.
Like it or Not Pakistanis Hate Indians but their Sweet Talk is Just a Hogwash.
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Oct 09, 2014 03:12pm
ISI should use these hapless actors to do its bidding in India as nobody will suspect they have brains to do anything.
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Oct 09, 2014 03:16pm
@Ajay - Seriously????? If Fawad says that he supports India on Kashmir, what will it achieve? Does India want Ali Zafar's certificate on Kashmir? Kashmir is a separate issue. Movies are business. Pure business. Lets not confuse the two. If Dawn says that you can't log in to www.dawn.com unless you support Pakistan's stance on Kashmir, then? As an Indian, I believe that Kashmir is an integral part of India. Lets not lower the discourse by saying all this.
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Oct 09, 2014 03:23pm
Actors are welcome but Ajmal Kasab...
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Oct 09, 2014 03:30pm
I really feel ashamed to be an Indian after reading all the obnoxious comments by Indians here all Pakistani actors are welcome let some sanity prevail
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Oct 09, 2014 03:38pm
How gud looking they may be, we do not welcome terrorist in the land of GODs...
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Oct 09, 2014 03:39pm
do they have proper polio clearance?
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Oct 09, 2014 03:42pm
India has tremendous opportunities for Pakistanis, but vice verse it doesn't.
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Oct 09, 2014 03:48pm
@Gaurav Arya Except Kashmir is part of Pakistan! And secondly wow, you Indians come to a PAKISTANI website commenting on our forums proving one point- you guys are obsessed with Pakistan. It's only natural to feel robbed and cheated considering Pakistan got better part of talent and looks than India and so to make up for that inferiority complex, the second best thing is to berate Pakistan (and Pakistanis). Get a life and go read Times of India or The Hindu as ill-advised comments are unwelcome here.
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Oct 09, 2014 03:52pm
Actors are welcome.....terrorists are not.
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Oct 09, 2014 03:55pm
@zak wow you are openly maligning those gentlemen who are trying to establish links. Don't you think it needs to b discussed with intelligence agency in secret.
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Oct 09, 2014 03:58pm
these artist will play a great role in bringing ppl together
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Oct 09, 2014 04:05pm
In pakistan its the uneducated lot which is responsible for
war mongering and jingoism but in india its the educated class
which is spreading hatred and religious intolerance (after reading various blogs)
This is quite surprising for me as i have many indian friends....who are very nice and down to
earth...
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Oct 09, 2014 04:06pm
Also consider the cinema of Iran. To the point and always with a message than portraying dancing songs!!!
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Oct 09, 2014 04:37pm
@Ali : Why India ?......Hatred will get you nowhere........
Pakistani actors are welcome to India....as long as they stick to art......not give political statements.
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Oct 09, 2014 04:42pm
Make your industry and Nation strong enough so that Indians actor consider to go PAK.
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Oct 09, 2014 04:51pm
i want all pakistani actors to come back to pakistan and work for their own homeland, in india there talent will be wasted for sure. Yesterday i saw by accident bang bang- what a ultimate time waster film. katrina worked in so many hindi films still dont know how to speak hindi..what a shame
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Oct 09, 2014 04:52pm
@Pratap If 1.5 billion people in this world are not what you believe they are.
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Oct 09, 2014 04:55pm
@Ali : Sir, we come to Dawn because we respect good stuff. Dawn is better than TOI. We also want to learn more about Pakistan and curious to know more.If that translates to you as we are desperate and can't live without Pakistan's help, I will leave that to your judgement.Most of the Pakistanis do not think like you do.
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Oct 09, 2014 05:03pm
Ali Zafar, are you advising "The Gidh" to go to Bollywood and work too?
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Oct 09, 2014 05:16pm
Just so people know, it was Indian producers and directors who invited these Pakistani artists after seeing their work. It is on record that Fawad was approached by the Kapoors. There are good, brave people on both sides and then there are the frightened, narrow minded ugly ones.
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Oct 09, 2014 05:17pm
Forget all these Ali Zafars, Fawad Khans, Hritiks and Naseeruddins....my dream to see a genuine Indo-Pak joint flick featuring "Thalaiva" Rajnikanth and "The Gidh" Shaan and some intense fighting/action sequences between them. That would make my life complete LOL.
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Oct 09, 2014 05:18pm
If anything Pakistani actors, artists and musicians have only enriched India. Songs of Rahat Fateh Ali, ghazals of Ghulam Ali has permanent place in the hearts of Indians (me too). getting terrorism from Pak is like "sound system screeching loudly" while listening to Rahat Fateh Ali. Hope someone in Pakistan fixes the "sound system".
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Oct 09, 2014 05:47pm
@burmanu I have the same observation. In india there is a very strong political consencus which is even prevalent in their news coverage. Ironically the Pakistani media is far more daring, dynamic and critical of power compared to their neighbor who happens to be "world's biggest democracy".
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Oct 09, 2014 06:01pm
Lol, why go to India to belittle themselves?.
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Oct 09, 2014 06:34pm
India must solve the outstanding Kashmir issue! After that borders can be openend for both countries and friendship can develop.
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Oct 09, 2014 06:39pm
Pakistanis would like to think that their actors are the best and that India is waiting with bated breaths for the next Pakistani actor to come and grace them.
Well, the reality is: no body cares. Indians are used to muslim names because 60% of bollywood actors, other talents are of muslim origin. Bollywood is a very cosmopolitan place. They have had even jewish actors, Parsi actors and actors from various other regions.
Roping in Fawad was a good business tactic as the producer ensured the movie would run at least in Pakistan. And it did!
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Oct 09, 2014 06:40pm
Shahrukh Khan is also Pakistani and made a big name in Bollywood!
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Oct 09, 2014 06:55pm
@Ali, Indians visit Dawn not for hating Pakistanis. This website presents a balanced picture and of late, I have read a number of positive articles here. You may see that majority of Indians love Pakistanis since we all have the same cultural and linguistic base,
In what way Pakistanis are different from Indians. Unless these actors identify themselves as Pakistanis, no one can come to know in India. Indians and Pakistanis have got dispute with your government and your military. We have no dispute with a normal Pakistani.
For decades, Indians have welcomed Pakistanis right from Nusrat Saheb to Rahat Fateh Ali Khan to your Gazal Kings to Wasim Akram and Ramiz Raja. Ask any one of them, they will tell you what India is about.
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Oct 09, 2014 06:58pm
wow so much hatred from Indians ----janey do yaar its just movies
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Oct 09, 2014 07:05pm
..Ali Zafar is good guy..in one program he was crying for peace between india and pakistaan
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nDLlGL1GGx4
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Oct 09, 2014 07:06pm
No doubt it would help immensely if Pakistani Rangers put an end to aggression at the border and fostered peace instead.
It would make it more amenable for Indians to accept Pakistanis as a whole. Unfortunately, the border incidents tend to cloud the judgement about people on the other side from both sides.
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Oct 09, 2014 07:20pm
@Ali Do you know that web traffic increases revenue for the newspaper? So this is our contribution to Pakistan :)
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Oct 09, 2014 08:35pm
@Indian dude - Pakistanis hate Indians?? LOL. Just read your own comment.
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Oct 09, 2014 08:48pm
@Ali 100% agreed.
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Oct 09, 2014 09:03pm
@malik
increase your GK
shah ruk is from delhi and was a tv actor and started his carrer with a serial called fauji
Use google malik
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Oct 09, 2014 09:42pm
@Ali - Gaurav it not worth education here
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Oct 09, 2014 09:50pm
About time Pakistanis began inviting Indian artistes to Pakistan as well. It should be a reciprocation, not just expect Indians to always take in Pakistanis. It will also help Pakistan re establish it's industry. Moreover, with border tensions springing up every few months, it's impractical. More often than not, Pakistanis are always thrown out of India when tensions between the two countries escalate.
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Oct 09, 2014 10:13pm
@marium
Please do not say by accident.. admit the realty.
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Oct 09, 2014 10:15pm
@malik Please take him back to Pakistan, lots of people has stopped watching hindi movies in india eversince he started.
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Oct 09, 2014 10:29pm
Indian filmmakers are signing Pakistani actors to make their films do business in Pakistan, this is the plain and simple reason. Talking about peace between countries or Pakistani actors being talented is just rubbish. There are many talented actors in India who are not getting their break because of this greed of Indian filmmakers.
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Oct 09, 2014 10:53pm
@Dixit;
"Pakistanis claim that Pakistan has every what India have then why these artist feel proud of getting roles in Indian movies."
Reasonable question, I think the answer lies in different censor policies. You have probably never seen a Pakistani's belly button, male or female.
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Oct 09, 2014 10:57pm
@Sunil are you in lab?
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Oct 09, 2014 11:09pm
@Ali We visit dawn.com - just to get a feeling what others think of us...is there any people have brain..seeing u guys i am sorry...
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Oct 09, 2014 11:13pm
...and who...are you ?... :)
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Oct 09, 2014 11:59pm
@Sandeep Kumar
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Oct 10, 2014 12:07am
@Rajat Khanna perhaps Fawad took the hearts of teenage girls by storm, not the box office lol
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Oct 10, 2014 12:07am
@Neeraj thank you Neeraj, it's nice to see an open minded and open hearted person.
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Oct 10, 2014 12:08am
@Ajay before we trade mangoes, wheat, or sugar - should we do the same?
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Oct 10, 2014 12:13am
@Dixit Years of cultural brainwashing by the British, the caste system, and general racist doctrine in India plays to Pakistan's advantage. Unfortunately South Asian culture now holds light skin and Caucasian features as beautiful. Being more North, and having a generally more lighter complected, more Caucasian featured population puts the Pakistani on the more desired looking scale of the spectrum.
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Oct 10, 2014 12:23am
Guys....bollywood is more about big business ,finances,moolah and that elusive 100 crores club...
it doesnt care whether you are pakistani ,bangladeshi or from any nationality
as long as you are bringing in moolah.....indian producers/financers are very shrewd
...by investing a couple of crores on a pakistani hero they are bringing in 10-15 crores business
from pakistan and pakistani diaspora(non resident pakistanis) in europe ,america and UAE... So its
not about nationalism....its more about business(as bollywood has gone global)....so stop bickering over foreign actors.....
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Oct 10, 2014 12:40am
My Pakistani friends don't understand that it is "Pure" business for Bollywood. Just by giving a small role in a film, Bollywood movies captures huge Pakistani viewers in Pakistan and around the world. Marketability of a film increases significantly by including international actors and extras (you won't find a single film without White girls/extras dancing with an Indian actor)....
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Oct 10, 2014 01:45am
I personally think that it is good to invite actors from Pakistan. They add colour. They also show to the viewers that they speak the same language, have the same appearance in looks and are not monsters. It kind of strengthens the 'we are the same people' argument. It also reduces the animosity felt in Pakistan against 'Bollywood aggression', when their own actors are a part of it. None of the Pakistani artistes who have been working in India for so many years have ever crossed their limits. They have been professional and that is all. You cannot fault any of them as working against India's interests. In fact they would be doing a lot of bridge-building between the peoples.
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Oct 10, 2014 01:56am
Well said, take the entire bunch with you. Prove to the Indians that you peoples are much good looking & can talk decent language. At least we will be spared of street language
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Oct 10, 2014 02:49am
@Sami Ullah Swati Sami, sorry to burst your balloon, but, people go to cinema halls for entertainment and not getting messages.
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Oct 10, 2014 03:36am
@shivan indeed you are right. It's like a Pakistani with an Indian boss, or vice verse. It creates understanding, and harmony.
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Oct 10, 2014 06:10am
We know he enjoys the big money and the popularity he gets in India, and he deserves it. But he should also use his celebrity to build up Pakistan's music industry. He should set up professional training centres and provide opportunities to aspiring singers and musicians to develop their talent and pursue their passion. That will add a beautiful dimension to his personality.
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Oct 10, 2014 07:39am
@Indian dude My brother my friend you have it all wrong.
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Oct 10, 2014 07:40am
@zak What a sad and pathetic comment. I hope you are a educated 16 year old anything else will make you not wise but otherwise
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Oct 10, 2014 07:42am
@vinay singh Vinay we need more people like you. We share too much history to stoop down to this level. I wish you all the best my friend and brother
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Oct 10, 2014 09:39am
@Ali Oh, Ali. Don't go proving their point!
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Oct 10, 2014 09:48am
@shaan See Indians are very similar to Pakistanis after all. :-)
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Oct 10, 2014 10:47am
and one of the largest centres of film production in the world.
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Oct 10, 2014 08:20pm
@Tota Ram Verma - Althouh I uderstand what you mean. But sorry I cant appreciate that in this forum.
No offence mate .. but these lines just add animosity and nothing else.
The readers of this column are definitely not the one you are referring.So its not the place where you should be writing those lines.
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Oct 10, 2014 08:22pm
@Indian dude - Please dont try to give the impression as if you represent the whole of India.
I beg to differ with you.I welcome pakistani actors.
Art and culture is the only element which will bride our borders.
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Oct 10, 2014 08:26pm
@Ali - My friend . I feel no shame in admitting that I am a regular reader of dawn.
Yes true that I am obsessed and I like the country and the people and the country as I feel there is no difference between you and me.
Please dont et carried away by some strat provoking commenting by indian brothers and likewise I will also advise brothers from pakistan as wel.
These are the elements who provoke and we all follow them.
These neative elements just need to drop a line and all gets rolled back.
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Oct 11, 2014 07:32pm
This is what I like . He talk sense. Not like other Pakisthani trying to show their own countrymen in bad light.
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