Banished from Bollywood like the rest of his colleagues, actor Imran Abbas, who missed hate bullets targeted at Fawad Khan, 'understands' why Karan Johar made a promise that got him only flak
Other Pakistani actor from 'Ae Dil Hai Mushkil', who MNS forgot, speaks up
Anushka Sharma and Imran Abbas in 'Ae Dil Hai Mushkil'
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Amidst all the hoopla that surrounded Fawad Khan’s special appearance in Karan Johar’s Diwali blockbuster, 'Ae Dil Hai Mushkil', there is one Pakistani actor who escaped mention in the media despite playing an interesting character in the film. Imran Abbas, who is a popular face across the border and played Anushka Sharma’s boyfriend in the film, admits that he is disappointed that Hindi films are no longer screened in his country, but wonders how effective bans are when Pakistanis watched pirated copies of Ae Dil and travelled to Dubai to catch a show.
Abbas is better known for his hit television shows, 'Mera Naseeb' and 'Noor Bano', that ran famously on Zee TV’s Zindagi before the channel self-imposed a ban on Pak content in the wake of the Uri terrorist attacks. Abbas was the original face of Zindagi when it launched in June 2014. The same year, he debuted in Bollywood with Vikram Bhatt’s fantasy horror film 'Creature 3D', opposite Bipasha Basu. He followed it up with a period film, 'Jaanisar', which was directed by Muzaffar Ali, whose 1981 classic 'Umrao Jaan' remains Abbas’s all-time favourite. Later, his TV play 'Mera Naam Yousaf Hai' also premiered on Star Plus, UK. It was Star’s first syndicated Pakistani drama serial.
'Ae Dil'… was to be Abbas’s most prominent project in Bollywood, even though it had him in a guest appearance. To be fair, even Fawad Khan’s character turned out to be no more than an extended cameo. “I was so looking forward to the release of Ae Dil…,” Abbas admits, talking exclusively to mid-day from Islamabad, his hometown.
After the release of 'Ae Dil'… though, Abbas was quoted as saying that his role had been chopped rather unkindly, a statement that viral on the Internet. He puts it on record that the comments were wrongly attributed to him, “I have yet to watch the film!”
Speaking about his role in the movie, he says, “It was a fun part. Faisal propels the characters played by Anushka Sharma and Ranbir Kapoor to double-date.” He also gets more screen time than Alia Bhatt and Shah Rukh Khan, the other guest stars in the film.
Back home, Abbas has just had the second season of his hugely successful drama, Khuda Aur Mohabbat (2011) out. In the pipeline are a couple of other TV shows.
He says he hasn’t had the time to mull over the ban on Pak artistes imposed by Mumbai’s producers’ associations, or the reasons that led to it. Bait him, and he only wishes things would take a turn for the better.
Edited excerpts from the interview.
Ae Dil Hai Mushkil happens to be your most prominent Bollywood film, even though you feature in a guest role. Was it disappomting that it didn’t release in your home country?
It felt bad, more so because of the tense relationship between India and Pakistan. But it’s a very sensitive subject and I wouldn’t want to get into it. Having said that, I’m sad that Bollywood movies aren’t showing in (Pakistani) cinemas. I know though that fans of Karan [Johar], Ranbir [Kapoor] and Anushka [Sharma] here would watch ADHM anyway, on pirated DVDs, or via torrent downloads. I even know of people who went to Dubai to watch the movie in theatres.
Incidentally, your earlier film, Jaanisar also didn’t release in Pakistan.
Yes, Jaanisar didn’t make it past the censor board in Pakistan, which kind of shocked me because it’s such a beautiful film and it only shows Hindus and Muslims living peacefully together in the ‘pre-War of Independence’ times. It wasn’t anti-Pakistan or anti-Muslim in any way.
It was quite a surprise for your Pakistani fans, when you landed a part in Ae Dil…, and you didn’t even hint at it until September last year when you tweeted, “Having wonderful time in London with the team of my new movie.”
It’s a guest appearance, so I didn’t make any noise about it. I signed on [the film] on the suggestion of my friend Manish Malhotra. Initially, I wasn’t sure if I should but because it was a Dharma Productions’ film and especially when I came to know that Shah Rukh Khan and Alia Bhatt also had guest roles in it, I couldn’t say no.
Are you in touch with your friends in Mumbai?
Of course. And, most of my friends are from outside the film industry.
What was your first reaction to Karan Johar’s video post where he expressed the resolve not to engage with any Pak artistes in the future?
I could understand how much pressure he must have felt to come to this point [of making the statement].
Did you speak to Karan after?
No, I got busy, and I’m sure he is busy with his stuff.
Have you received hate mail from Indians on social media?
See, we are a very jazbaati qaum (sentimental people). I’ll give you the example of an India-Pakistan cricket match. Every time it is played, we hear a lot of hate comments from both parties. It’s our natural response to such a situation. But in normal circumstances, it would be very different. I can vouch for that because I have got great love from the Indian public. I never faced any negativity.
If things go back to the way they were, would you return to Bollywood?
I had a great time working in the Hindi film industry, and any actor would only be happy to get the chance to be part of Bollywood. But I am not obsessed about any particular workplace. I am open to good offers from literally anywhere in the world.
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