Javed Akhtar was in Pakistan to attend the seventh Faiz Festival organized at Alhamra Arts Council, Lahore. His remark on the 26/11 attack is going viral and receiving a lot of condemn from Pakistani actors and audiences.
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Javed Akhtar, an Indian screenwriter, lyricist, and poet was invited to the seventh Faiz Festival in Pakistan organized at the Alhamra Arts Council, Lahore. It was a 3 days festival scheduled from 17th February- 19th February. During an interview at the film festival, a person asked him if he’ll take a message of peace with him back to India after his visit by saying, “You have visited Pakistan several times now. So when you go back to India, do you tell people that Pakistanis are good people too, they are not just bomb attacking us but also showing hospitality and offering garlands and love?”
Javed Akhtar’s remark on 26/11
To which he replied, “Let’s not blame one another, it won’t solve any issue. The main problem is that nowadays, there’s a lot of rage in people, it should not be this way. We are from Mumbai, we know, we have seen the attack. The people who were responsible for the attack, didn’t come from Norway or Egypt, right? Those people are still roaming around freely in Pakistan to this date. So, if an Indian still holds grudges about it, you should not mind.”
This statement wasn’t very well taken by the Pakistani audience, making it a controversy. During his stay in Lahore, Akhtar was also invited to a private gathering hosted by Pakistani singer, songwriter, model, actor, producer, screenwriter, and painter Ali Zafar. A video of the party is going viral where Ali Zafar is seen singing Zindagi Aa Raha Hoon Main, a Bollywood song sung by the late singer Kishore Kumar. The song is from a 1984 film Mashaal. The lyrics of the song are written by Javed Akhtar.
The video was originally posted on Twitter by a user Haroun Rashid. The video shows Javed Akhtar enjoying and grooving to the song which is being sung by Ali Zafar. The crowd seems to be enjoying the music as well. Rashid wrote in the caption of the video, “Such a rare moment and a privilege to have an evening of poetry and music with our brothers and sisters from across the border. The most talented Javed Akhtar sahib himself in Lahore, it can’t get any better.”
Audience’s take on Javed Akhtar’s remark
The video was posted on 20th February, and now it has gained over four lakh views on Twitter. One of the many users wrote, “This is fantastic, only if there were no issues going on between India and Pakistan, this would have been a normal thing. If only India and Pakistan’s relations were good just like most of the countries in the world have with their neighboring countries.”
Another person wrote, “This is definitely a masterpiece. The way you sing is so beautiful. Mashallah.”
While many appreciated the music and interaction between the Indian and Pakistani celebrities, many even trolled Ali Zafar for even inviting Akhtar to the gathering. Resham, a Pakistani film and television actress and model also stated her disregard for the statement given by Akhtar. She posted pictures on her Instagram handle from the same party he was invited to. She posed with him and a few other people from the party. https://www.instagram.com/p/Co4zXcoNi_v/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link
