Pakistani actor-singer Ali Zafar, who recently hosted Javed Akhtar and performed in front of him, has now reacted to the veteran writer-lyricist’s earlier remarks on his country.

Last week, at the Faiz Festival held in Lahore, Akhtar had spoken about how perpetrators of the 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks are “roaming freely” in Pakistan.

Reacting to this, Ali took to his Instagram Stories and stated that Akhtar’s remarks could “deeply hurt the sentiments” of people. He wrote, “Guys, I love you all and truly value your praise and criticism equally. But I always request one thing — verify facts before reaching any conclusion or judgement. I was not present at the Faiz Mela nor aware of what was said until the next day, when I saw it on social media.”

He went on to add, “I am a proud Pakistani and naturally, no Pakistani would appreciate any statement against its country or people, specially at an event meant to bring hearts closer than farther. We all know how much Pakistan has suffered and continues to suffer at the hands of terrorism. Such insensitive and uncalled-for remarks can deeply hurt the sentiments of so many people.”

The actor-singer responds by putting out a statement denying allegations; says he intends to ‘take it through the courts of law’
Nishi Tiwari (MUMBAI MIRROR; April 20, 2018)

"I used to love Ali Zafar until ten minutes ago,” a Twitter user in Pakistan posted a few hours after the renowned Meesha Shafi accused equally famous actor-singer and colleague Ali Zafar of sexual harassment on the site.

“Sharing this because I believe by speaking out about my own experience of sexual harassment, I will break the culture of silence that permeates through our society. It is not easy to speak out but it is harder to stay silent. My conscience will not allow it anymore,” the 36-year-old mother-of-two revealed on Thursday, appending with it a note that read, “I have been, on more than one occasion, subjected to sexual harassment of physical nature at the hands of a colleague from my industry: Ali Zafar. These incidences didn’t happen when I was younger, or entering the industry. This happened to me despite the fact that I am an empowered, accomplished woman who is known to speak her mind... a mother of two children.”

Sharing this because I believe that by speaking out about my own experience of sexual harassment, I will break the culture of silence that permeates through our society. It is not easy to speak out.. but it is harder to stay silent. My conscience will not allow it anymore #MeToo pic.twitter.com/iwex7e1NLZ

— Meesha Shafi (@itsmeeshashafi) April 19, 2018

After telling Pakistan’s Dunya TV at 6 pm, “I don’t want to speak on the matter,” Zafar, 37, put out a statement at 7.30 pm: “I am a man who has stood up for myself, my family, my colleagues and friends countless times in the face of slander, defamation and general unkindness. I will do the same today. I have nothing to hide. Silence is absolutely not an option. I categorically deny any and all claims of harassment lodged against me by Ms Shafi. I intend to take this through the courts of law.”

In a classic case of old celeb tweets returning like bad karma, Twitter users went into overdrive, retweeting Zafar’s old posts exalting women and advocating gender equality, offset by others that reflected misogynistic undertones. Karachi-based journalist Omar R Quraishi, who clapped back to a tweet from Zafar dated July, 19, 2011 — “Liberty for women to watch topless men on the Lahore canal, however depriving men of the same. (Can’t believe I tweeted that),” with, “You shouldn’t have”, says this is just the tip of the iceberg.

“I’d expect more names to follow because sexual harassment is quite prevalent in Pakistan’s fashion and film/TV industry. Male models have also been victims,” he tells Mirror.

In the wake of Zafar’s restrained denial of the accusations, the scales have considerably tipped in his favour, at least online. While some noted that it is his word against hers, Zafar loyalists refused to believe that there could be even an iota of truth in Shafi’s claims.

Zafar hit pay dirt as a pop/rock musician in 2003 in his home country with the song “Channo”, from his debut album, Huqa Paani, which sold five million copies worldwide. In the years to follow, his fame crossed borders, paving way for a Bollywood debut in 2010 with Tere Bin Laden, which opened to moderate critical and commercial success, facilitating projects like Mere Brother Ki Dulhan (2011) opposite A-listers Katrina Kaif and Imran Khan, London, Paris, New York, Chashme Baddoor and more recently, the Alia Bhatt-starrer Dear Zindagi.

Zafar worked in a hotel lobby as a sketch artist, where he met his wife, Ayesha Fazli, and the couple wed in 2009. Their son Azaan was born in 2010 and daughter Alyza in 2015. Zafar reportedly has a no-kissing clause in his contract and the makers of London, Paris... had to use a body double for a sequence.

Since Shafi closed her note with the ‘me too’ hashtag, would it be too far off the mark to call this a watershed moment in Pakistani showbiz given both Shafi and Zafar’s celebrity status? “It’s not often that you see a big celebrity name accuse another celebrity of sexual harassment — and that too in Pakistan. Meesha Shafi must have thought carefully about the consequences of her going public, particularly to her own career as well and her own reputation since women who do something like this in Pakistani society are often judged harshly,” Quraishi points out.

Mirror had earlier reported (October 14) about Ali Fazal shooting for his new international project after Furious 7, Stephen Frears' British drama, Victoria And Abdul, with veteran actress Judi Dench. Now, we hear that he's also sharing screen space with another Brit acting stalwart, Sir Michael Gambon, who played Albus Dumbledore in the Harry Potter films. “He is one of the most charming men in UK and interacting with him reminded me of countless conversations I've had with my grandfather in Lucknow. He has featured in most of Samuel Beckett's plays, working with the playwright closely, and that's what made working with him special. He shared his experiences with screen legends as Marlon Brando, Robert De Niro and Al Pacino,“ Ali informed Mirror from London, adding with a laugh, that shooting with him was like breaking the rules with your bestie and laughing your way through the punishment together. The 30-year-old actor plays Abdul Karim, a young clerk who travelled from India to be a part of the Queen Victoria's golden jubilee celebrations in 1887, forging an unlikely friendship with her. Gambon, Ali shares, is the most important figure of the time after the Queen who was in charge of the country in the last decade of her reign. He however refuses to reveal his identity and wants to keep you guessing.

Interestingly, Ali is not a Potterhead and has not watched a single film from the series but adores Gambon from way before he played Dumbledore. “An 80-yearold actor has more stamina than 70 percent of the cast and crew. It's amazing,“ he signed off with awe.

Meanwhile the Hogwarts headmaster will make an appearance in the second part of the Harry Potter spin-off, Fantastic Beasts And Where To Find Them. The search is on for someone to play the younger version of Dumbledore, while Eddie Redmayne plays the lead as magizoologist Newt Scamander. “In the second movie, Dumbledore comes back. He's got a couple of good scenes with Newt.W e're discussing who would play Dumbledore,“ said director David Yates.

After the Uri attack and the MNS giving Pakistani artistes in India a “48-hour deadline“ to “leave the country“, Subhash Chandra, Zeel & Essel group chairman, had tweeted that they would stop showing Pakistani shows on Zindagi. During a press coference in Delhi on Tuesday, he said that they will not have Pakistani contestants and judges on reality shows as well. He said, “Humare singing reality shows mein Pakistani singers aate hain, finalists bhi bane hain, shows bhi jeete hain, judges bhi bane hain. But we will not have them on the channel now till the Indo-Pak tension is over. Humne toh har tarah se prayas kiya, lekin kahin toh aap ko apne logon ke sentiments ki kadr karni hogi.“

While the idea of the press meet was to have a discussion on the channel's new lineup of Indian and Turkish shows and introduce the shows' artistes, the discussion took a different turn with Chandra insisting that Pakistani artistes should have condemned the Uri attack. And as the actors, writers and producers of the new shows, who came from other cities to attend the event, sat silently on stage, the discussion was led by Chandra and Anupam Kher, who is a producer of one of the shows which will now air on the channel.

PAK ACTORS SHOULD CONDEMN THE TERROR ACT: ANUPAM KHER
Anupam Kher said that he might be friends with some of the Pakistani actors and appreciate their work, but at this time, he has to speak what he feels. “I feel that it is very important to reciprocate love and affection, otherwise it is taken as a sign of weakness. I have an example of my own self - when there was an attack in a Peshawar school and hundreds of children were killed in a terrorist attack, I was an Indian actor who wrote an open letter condemning the attack. I felt that those children were our children - they were the future of the world. When I was refused a visa to attend the literary festival, I raised the issue asking why I was not given the visa. I still believe that art and culture should not have any boundaries, but I think it is a moral responsibility of actors from across the border who work with us to condemn the terrorist attack which killed our soldiers. I am not asking them to condemn their country because that may not be possible for them, that may not be a correct move politically. But we welcome them, we give them work, all those actors became popular in India. It is important to be sensitive towards the emotions of Indian people, it's important to say, 'I condemn the unfortunate massacre of Indian soldiers.' It is important to speak about such things, I am against the fact that they do not do that, they should because we do that. We have always shown our goodness, friendship and I must say that there are some people in Pakistan who are wonderful, they are good hosts. I went to Karachi once and it was beautiful, but when it comes to my country I cannot be diplomatic, I cannot be unbiased, I am biased towards my country. What will I tell the mother or father of that jawan who got killed? That it is alright, let's give art and culture more importance? No, it is not possible. So, it is important for them to tell people that they are thankful that they are given work in this country, they are obliged and they also condemn the killing of Indian jawans.

Kher added, “I am friends with some of these actors, I am following them on Instagram and I like these actors. People who have made films, I feel their films should release, producers have invested so much money, but it is important to talk about it. Make us feel that we have given you so much, you can at least do lip service and say I am sorry for your pain and I condemn this act of terrorism.“

THE DECISION TO NOT HAVE PAKISTANI SHOWS WAS TAKEN A DAY AFTER URI ATTACK: SUBHASH CHANDRA
Claiming that the channel is boycotting Pakistani shows to take a stand against what happened in Uri, Chandra said, “Maine pehle bhi kaha hai ki pyaar ek tarfa nahi ho sakta. Humne prayaas kiye ki Hindustan aur Pakistan ke logon ko mila sakein. The government gave permission, the audience gave appreciation, Pakistan ke artistes humare yahan popular hue, lekin woh baar baar hi ulta-seedha karte ja rahe hain - Pathankot kiya, Uri kiya. Ladai karna hai toh saamne karke maaro, lekin soye hue aadmi ko maaroge toh kaise chalega? So we decided that Pakistan ke shows hum band kar denge.“

He added, “Abhi hamare paas Pakistan ke lagbhag 3000 ghante ke shows hain joh humne khareede hue hain - lagbhag Rs 60 crore ka samaan hai. Par humne decide kiya ki humare liye Rs 60 crore important nahi hai, desh ka pride important hai. People say that Pakistani shows were the USP of our channel, because of the scripts, the acting. We have learnt this from them, aur uske liye main unn logon ki kadr karta hun. Aur badle mein humne unko do saal mein Rs 200-250 crore diye hain, joh seekha hai uska price pay kiya hai.“

'PAKISTANI ARTISTES SHOULD CONDEMN TERRORISM'
Naming artistes like Fawad Khan, Mahira Khan, Ali Zafar and Shafqat Amanat Ali, Chandra said that he had requested them to condemn the act of terror. “Around nine Pakistani artistes are working here, out of those six people are what they are because of our channel. Ali Zafar, Fawad Khan, Mahira Khan, Veena Malika, Imran Abbas, Shafqat Amanat Ali, in sabko humne phone kiya, sabko humne request ki, ki aap kuch mat kariye, bas yeh hi kahiye ki jo terroist attack raat ko sote hue logon par kiya gaya hai, we condemn that, don't even name Pakistan. Even then they don't want to talk about it. Let them entertain their own people. Children of our country are paying a price. Can you ask the mother of a person who died while sleeping, 'Let us keep art out of this'? Take her answer and then look at it. For how long you will keep art away from this?“ said Chandra.

'THIS BOYCOTT COULD JUST BE TEMPORARY'
Chandra said that the channel may change its stand in the future, depending on future developments. “I am not against any individual. Un nau Pakistani artistes mein se do log abhi Mumbai mein hain, as we speak now, I have invited them on October 2 to my house for dinner. Please don't misunderstand what we say about boycotting; we are boycotting terrorism. That doesn't mean that Nawaz Sharif will not remain my friend. I have been friends with him for 20 years,“ he said, and added that he had had a word with Karan Johar, who has been reportedly receiving threats from MNS for working with Fawad Khan.“Karan Johar ji se jab maine baat ki toh maine unhe aashvasan diya ki chinta mat kariye, aapki film jo complete ho chuki hai, usko release hone denge log, aur agar koi rokega toh main saamne khada hoke aapki film release karaunga, par aage kaam mat kariye aur kya pata humare sambandh theek ho jayen,“ he added.

Angad Bedi admits that he was expected to follow in his famous father, spinner Bishan Singh Bedi's footsteps and at one point had toyed with the idea of becoming a cricketer. “If I'd achieved even 10 percent of his success on the field, my journey would have been considered equally successful. But dramatics has always been my passion and that's how I strayed into Bollywood,“ he exults.

The actor has three films - Dear Zindagi, Pink and a web film with Farhan Akhtar and Ritesh Sidhwani--to look forward to. He's all gung-ho about Alia Bhatt whom he romances in Gauri Shinde's next. “You can't take your eyes off the girl, she's amazing, always prepped up, always smiling, always knows her lines and in the right mood for a scene. Her energy is infectious!“ he raves, adding that he plays a restaurateur. “The ideal man.“

Does he get the girl? Angad won't say because he has a lot of reel-life love rivals, including Kunal Kapoor, Ali Zafar, Aditya Roy Kapur and perhaps even Shah Rukh Khan who plays Alia's shrink. “I didn't get to shoot with him but I did spend a day with the other guys and it was good fun. Kunal is sporty and Ali Zafar's music sense is brilliant. Aditya and I used to play cricket together,“ he smiles.

He's equally excited about Pink as it gave him the chance to live out his childhood dream of acting with the Big B. Rajveer is a rich man's son, who doesn't speak much but coming from a feudal set-up has a certain arrogance and looks at women as inferior beings. “He could walk into a restaurant in flip-flops and look expensive. I'm his polar opposite so I was put through a 15-day workshop to get into character before we went on the floors,“ he informs, adding that the 42-day schedule was wrapped up in just 33 days with Amitabh Bachchan treating Tapsee Pannu and him like kids. “He would rehearse with me for four hours before we faced the camera for all the major scenes.“

Apparently, his character is modelled on Ness Wadia, while Richa Chadha plays a Preity Zinta-like character in the web film which revolves around the IPL. Angad denies this categorically, “That's not true. I play a cricketer and the film focuses on the game.“

Buzz is, Angad is dating Baahubali girl Nora Fatehi who is currently a part of a dance reality show. He quips, “Yes, I'm close to Nora, but we're both doing good work and I don't want my name to overshadow her work or vice versa. That's why we've decided to keep things quiet for now.“