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There will be a lot more Pak-India collaboration in the future, says Ali Zafar

There will be a lot more Pak-India collaboration in the future, says Ali Zafar

Ali Zafar thinks the two countries will latch on to the global trend of cross-border projects
04 May, 2016

Ali Zafar has seen the future and it's bright!

Talking to the Indian press, he said that there will be more collaborative projects between Pakistan and India in the times to come.

Zafar, who began his Bollywood career with Tere Bin Laden in 2010, is now shuffling between Pakistan and India as he shoots films across the border and directs his first film in Pakistan, Deosai.

“I take great privilege in the fact that back in the day when I came here to shoot Tere Bin Laden in 2008, there was no real exchange happening between Pakistan and India, there was no real concept of having a Pakistani as a lead in an Indian film," he recalls.

"Things changed as Laden happened, and the credit goes to the producer and the director also. The film did well critically and commercially, too. Since then, I have done about six film – half did well, half didn’t, which is not a bad score at all. Now, I am doing another film and will continue to do films. At the same time, I am doing films in Pakistan also,” he adds.

Zafar went on to say that he thinks collaborations will increase in the future. “In future, there will be a lot of collaboration between India and Pakistan cinema, artist exchange between the two countries is bound to increase. In fact, it’s great to see international collaborations. Nowadays, a lot of this is happening, like Deepika Padukone and Priyanka Chopra are doing cross-over projects. The world is becoming more compact and more global, so a lot more exchange between artists is happening. It is tremendous and fantastic, I’d love to be part of that process too be it music or acting.”

We hope he's right!

Comments

Zak May 04, 2016 11:23am
I hope we see more Pakistani actors in Hollywood, the real test. Already 6 pakistani actors have acted in Hollywood movies, including one in Star Trek.
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Common Sense May 04, 2016 12:08pm
Collaboration is good, but not at the expense of Pakistan's film industry. Our actors should make working on Pakistani films their priority, and working in Hindi films secondary. Just my opinion.
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Fandom Beyond the Borders May 04, 2016 12:11pm
Absolutely right. Indo-Pak creative fraternity is showing great acceptance for each other. And that should serve as a benchmark for cooperation between leaders and individuals of various other fields as well.
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A Troll From Nowhere May 04, 2016 12:55pm
This is a win-win deal. Through this cooperation, Pakistani artists are now working in one of the world's most successful film industry thus gaining invaluable experience of making good quality movies. I am quite sure these actors will be infusing life in otherwise dead film industry of Pakistan. As for Bollywood, they know that this cooperation would result in developing the largest 'overseas' market for them. Pakistan is surely going to be the biggest market for Bollywood.
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rahul1 May 04, 2016 02:15pm
@Common Sense All regional film industry have this fear of Bollywood Pakistani industry is not alone
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Cheesey May 04, 2016 02:19pm
Bollywood needs Pakistani actor mainly for access to Pakistani movie market. As Kabir Khan said, Pakistan could be the biggest territory of Bollywood films. They pay a little to our actors and mint a lot more from our audience. Clever businessmen of Mumbai !!
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divergence May 04, 2016 02:41pm
@Common Sense True, what I have seen here, some of the Indian artists are also not happy about this exchange of artists from across the border, however, I have yet to see a good collaboration on small screen of Indian and Pakistani actors. Movies are commercial things, bursting with songs, dramas have a lasting effect on the audience.
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Dv May 04, 2016 03:12pm
This is the true face of the two countries. The fact is that culturally they have same roots. Let me hope that this kind relationship will help in bringing them together.
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Awesome Lyrics May 04, 2016 03:45pm
@Zak Wow thats great I did not know that, who all acted and in which films sir, could you elaborate please
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saurabh singh May 04, 2016 04:18pm
Lets hope of more engagements and flow of artists in the subcontinent for the betterment of the film industry as well as the whole region
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dawn May 04, 2016 05:36pm
This continous/regular talk about 'collaboration' just astounds me. Is it really that important? Has Pakistan not given it enough chance?
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Common Sense May 04, 2016 06:43pm
@rahul1 Pakistani's don't fear that Hindi cinema will over take us. We just want our talent to work in our country just like yours does. Again, not scared only concerned.
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Awesome Lyrics May 04, 2016 06:59pm
@Zak Actors Irfan Khan, Deepika, Priyanka, Mindy Kaling, Kal Penn, and Freida Pinto, Aziz Ansari, Waris Ahluwalia, Purva Bedi, Aasif Mandvi, Nassirudin Shah, Om Puri, and many others have already participated in Hollywood
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Ali (Proud Indian) May 04, 2016 08:00pm
@Common Sense Whilst in the beginning it may look like its at the cost of the Pak film industry, eventually everyone will be a winner, as Pak actors and directors gain experience from their time in "Bollywood" and return to Pak to make (better) films ... and who says Indian actors can't or won't be roped in to act in Pak productions?
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Akil Akhtar May 05, 2016 04:53am
Have some self respect and a bit of love for your own country which gave you so much........
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Ramesh May 05, 2016 08:44am
@Cheesey How many theatres show "Hindi" movies in Pakistan? 5 - 10 How much piracy has been happening in the last 68 yrs? Pls don't count your chickens before they hatch?
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