Fahad Mustafa’s living every Pakistani actor’s dream – he’s got two titan films out on Eid, and both are faring remarkably well at the box office, with critics praising his performances, in particular for ‘Load Wedding.’ The actor was recently promoting ‘JPNA 2’ in London, where he made some very interesting statements.
The actor met with Haroon Rashid of ‘BBC Asian Network’ for an interview, where he stated how success for him is based on box office results, giving the people exactly what they want. He stated how as a producer, it’s important to release films during Eid because they fare better at the box office and urged the importance of the holy festival being an outlet for films to make money. When asked about how some people have “brand[ed] him as arrogant,” Fahad said that the “process of filmmaking” made him so happy that he didn’t care what people thought. His “tongue and cheek” nature was something he said he was unapologetic about.
When asked about fewer mainstream films like ‘Cake,’ Fahad asserted how our audiences don’t trust lesser-known directors, and how the fraternity needs to continue to make commercially viable films right now in order to encourage the masses to come out and support Pakistani cinema. He went onto casually compare himself to Salman Khan, the Bollywood actor who is known for releasing 100 crore films during Eid. Fahad, having also released two films during Eid. Fahad’s persistent need to shed light on the value of the Pakistani box office followed by his explaining that a story doesn’t always need to have a message – it just needs to ‘entertain’ – however precarious that form of entertainment might be.
However, people haven’t taken his comparison to Salman Khan lightly, despite Fahad saying he meant it only in terms of releasing films on Eid
A few people did pick up on his phrasing though…
Hear his full interview now, with ‘BBC Asian Network’
What are your thoughts on Fahad’s statement?
