Bollywood Craze

A Pakistani teenager's craze for a career in Bollywood has landed him in an Indian jail and his worried parents are appealing for his release on humanitarian grounds.
Nasir Sultan, a Class 10 student and a diehard fan of the Bollywood superstar Shahrukh Khan, crossed over to India illegally to try and join the film industry. After reaching Punjab in India, he called his parents in the North West Frontier Province to say he was in the neighbouring country. Fifteen minutes later his parents got another call to say that their son had been arrested. Sultan's parents, who hail from Chukiatan, a small town of Dir district in NWFP, are now running from pillar to post to secure his release. Like most Pakistani boys of his age, Sultan was an avid Bollywood fan and was fascinated by the many stunts in Hindi films that he hoped to excel at too. On August 16, Sultan left home for school wearing his uniform and carrying his schoolbag but instead crossed the border.
Two days later, his father Sultan Zareen, who works at a petrol pump, got a call from Sultan, who said he was on his way to Mumbai. This was followed soon after by the news of his arrest.
Sultan is being held in Faridkot Jail for the past two months. "I don't know what to do to secure his release as he is in another country where I have no influence or resources to use for winning his release," Zareen told The News daily. Zareen said his wife was depressed and the Indian Government should release his son on humanitarian ground.

Abhijeet shown the door

Controversy erupted on the sets of Ek Se Badhkar Ek because playback singer Abhijeet Bhattacharya objected to the participation of a Pakistani singer in this weekend reality show. Consequently, Abhijeet—as he puts it —quit the show. Others say he was shown the door. Abhijeet Bhattacharya and choreographer Ahmed Khan were judges on Zee’s weekend reality show which features TV actors and singers performing in jodis. Among the new entrants in the wild card round, there were Sanober Kabir and Mussarat Abbas. Pakistani contestants have often participated in the various channels’ music reality shows. Past objections Mussarat Abbas was a contestant from Sa Re Ga Ma Pa Challenge 2007. Abhijeet has earlier protested against Pakistani singers. In 2003, he even petitioned the government seeking a ban on Pakistani singers performing in India. This time, he said, “If Mussarat sings, I will not judge him.” Abhijeet said that to allow foreigners to participate in the show was unfair to Indian talent. On another note, referring to Pakistani singers giving playback for Bombay’s movies, he said, “It’s a matter of great shame that our music directors should go to Pakistan to get Atif Aslam to sing because he didn’t get a visa to come here. Yahaan hamare singers bhukhemar rahe hain (Our own singers are dying of starvation here).” Fired or quit? Media reports have said thatAbhijeet had been shown the door due to his behaviour. But the singer states, “I spoke to the channel. They said they couldn’t change the format, so I have quit. It was mutual. But it’s sad that I had to leave because of a non-entity Pakistani singer.” Tarun Mehra, programming head of Zee, states that he isn’t aware of the fact that Abhijeet had walked out. According to him, “We can’t change the format of the show.. it’s about singing and dancing. We will have to find a replacement.” Diplomatically, Mussarat says that he will miss Abhijeet on the show: “I understand what he means. The fact that Indians aren’t allowed to perform in our country is amatter of embarrassment to us.We have such deep cultural and family links.”

‘Ramchand Pakistani’, a unique India-Pakistan co-production

Mumbai, May 21 (IANS) “Ramchand Pakistani”, the latest India-Pakistan collaborative film venture, is unique because its protagonists belong to the minority Hindu community in Pakistan, says producer Javed Jabbar. The film, which is set to release in Pakistan next month, highlights the problems faced by border communities, especially Hindu minorities, during bilateral tensions.
It revolves around a family that belongs to the Kohli Dalit caste of the Hindu community of that country. And critically acclaimed Indian actress Nandita Das plays a lead role.
“The struggle of a poor and a lonely woman for physical and psychological survival is a major aspect of the movie,” Jabbar told IANS via e-mail from Karachi.
Though Pakistani actress Shameem Ara played a Hindu character, Shakuntala, in “Lakhon Mein Aik” in the 1960s, this time it’s an Indian - Nandita - who plays Champa, the key character around whom “Ramchand Pakistani” revolves.
Champa’s eight-year-old son, Ramchand, inadvertently crosses the border, and her husband Shankar, while looking for their son, is mistaken for a Pakistani spy by the Indian security forces.
The film, the directorial debut of Jabbar’s daughter Mehreen, depicts Champa’s struggle to get her family back and the psychological trauma she undergoes. Mehreen has directed several Pakistani television serials earlier.
Though the officers of the Pakistani Rangers empathise with Champa’s emotional crisis, they cannot secure any information about her husband and son from the other side of the border.
“Such examples of silence and non-confirmation are fairly common in bilateral relations, especially when the relations are tense between two neighbouring countries, as Champa’s predicaments pointedly reveal,” Jabbar said.
Through Champa’s tale of woes, “Ramchand Pakistani” seeks to subtly refer to the suspicion with which majority communities of both India and Pakistan tend to look upon the minorities.
“But as I have said, the movie set in 2002-03 is essentially a story about a poor and lonely woman’s struggle for physical and psychological survival under unfriendly circumstances,” the Pakistani producer stressed.
Though there have been instances of cross-border participation in Pakistani and Indian films earlier, this is the first time that a large mix of artistes have come together in a single venture.
Apart from Nandita, “Ramchand Pakistani” has Debajyoti Mishra as music director, Shubha Mudgal as a lead singer along with Shafaqat Armaan Ali Khan and Aseem Sinha is the editor.
Mishra has composed songs for Rituparno Ghosh’s “Raincoat” and Bhavna Talwar’s “Dharm”.
The cast also includes Rashid Farooqi, Syed Fazal Ahmed, who plays Ramchand, Nauman Ijaj and Maria Wasti.
“The movie has been made in Urdu-cum-Hindi because the story evolves on two parallel tracks on either side of the border. There is an overseas version with English sub-titles too,” Jabbar said.
“Ramchand Pakistani” evoked a good response when it was screened at the New York Tribeca Film Festival held between April 28 and May 4. The New York Times described it as a “poignant” movie.
Percept Picture Company, which released “Khuda Ke Liye” in India, may release “Ramchand Pakistani” too.
“We are in talks with the producer of the film. But nothing has been finalised,” Ashok Ahuja, the company’s marketing director, told IANS.





http://www.thaindian.com/newsportal/south-asia/ramchand-pakistani-a-unique-india-pakistan-co-production_10050907.html