Bollywood: India-Pakistan's Family Tree
“Art has no boundaries”
We have all drooled over perfect-hair-perfect-smile Fawad Khan, when he stepped into Bollywood, a fairy-tale in tow. Whether it’s Jawed Sheikh playing Upen Patel’s father in Namaste London, or Ali Zafar, Bollywood’s had its more than fair share of Pakistani Actors and rightfully so. For some stories, no Indian can match up to the beauty these actors bring to the silver screen. So, when this project kicked up the dust, I started wondering what it is that we and Pakistanis have so much in common. There’s Coke Studio, the cricket craze, poetry, history and of course.. Films!
Dating back to the ‘50s, when Salma Agha set the screen on fire with Nikaah (she lent her face and her voice), actors from Pakistan always possessed a certain fascination for their neighbor’s film venture. There’s nothing more captivating than a chicken soup of dark stories, magic, soulful renditions by local musicians, stories spun out with skill and alacrity, the dance, oh the dance, and the settings. Bollywood has never restrained a fine actor from contributing their dough on screen and that alone binds Pakistan and India together in a loving, filmy embrace. But what brought about the Indie-directional movement of these actors?
During the Zia-Ul-Haq era, the Pakistan film industry sank to rubble. Much of the Pakistani acting diaspora headed neighbor-wise to make their money. The clear-cut ban imposed was for Urdu films in particular. With the coming in of Musharraf, in 2006, Pakistan lifted the decades-old ban on screening Indian films. Proud I am to admit, eminent film-observers predicted that the pouring in of Indian films into Pakistani theatres was what set the young filmmakers ablaze into competing and producing some of the finest piece of films we have today. Khuda Kay Liye became the first Pakistani film to release in India, just an year later and Zinda Bhaag, Waar reached the Oscars!
What do we have in common, you ask? Children of Pakistan and India have grown up crying over the fields of Dilwale Dhulania Le Jayenge, the lachak of Madhuri Dixit, the intensity of Amitabh Bachchan. A few months ago, I was one of the people who ran across the Pakistan border gate and broke it down for Bhai to cross over to India- In my heart, anyway. We have paid our lunch money to queue up and watch Shahrukh Khan 'repair the world with love’ with My Name is Khan. And we are willing to give more. Bollywood revived India way back in 2000s and Lollywood repaid the loan by gifting us some of its finest actors. Yes, yes, even Imran Abbas in Creature 3D.
Recently, scripts were flouted that Shiv Sena had a problem with “these Pakistanis setting foot on Maharashtrian land”. In the endless list of tirades that this Organization has gathered over the years, banning these actors from doing what they know best –justice to wonderfully written plots – is sure to bring out the candle marches. At the end of day, Mohammed Raza, award-winning Pakistani filmmaker sums up the bonding between India and Pakistan in an interview saying thus:
“It’s very simple: we are cousins. We share the same language. We share the same songs. We had cinemas, but we were not making films. New cinema spaces emerged because of Bollywood. Once this happened, the filmmakers were ready. We can’t make films if there are no cinemas to screen them. Bollywood is still giving CPR [cardiopulmonary resuscitation] to our industry.”
And Salman Khan gave it right back to them saying: “If someone wants a Pakistani actor who can portray a role better, nobody can put a constraint. Indians love to watch each and every entertainment show, including popular Pakistani shows. Bollywood has a huge number of fans in Pakistan and earns a good share of income from the neighboring country.”
As for me, I’m off to watch Khich Meri Photo from Sanam Teri Kasam (did you know Mawra Hocane was a Pakistani as well?), listen to Farida Khanum sing ‘Aaj Jaane ki Zidd Na Karo’ and book my tickets for Tere Bin Laden: Dead or Alive. And if I were you, I’d be marking my calendar for Raees, too (Welcome to Bollywood, Mahira Khan!)