As he said it
SURESH KOHLI
|
The Feroz Khan episode in Pakistan has been blown out of proportion.
|
CAUGHT IN FLASH Feroz Khan with Fardeen Khan (centre) and Akbar Khan.
It was a sit-in dinner at the Royal Golf and Country Club in Lahore. Nearly 500 of the rich and the famous, the young and the old alike, of the city had gathered to meet the stars and celebrities from India who were visiting Pakistan for the premieres of Akbar Khan's Taj Mahal - the first mainstream Indian movie to be released in Pakistan since the 1965 ban. The whole of Lahore seemed to be celebrating the event. Many of us had just reached the venue straight from the premiere at the Plaza theatre in the heart of a clean, sparkling, green city. The next morning Daily Times covered the event with five different headlines, beginning with `Taj Mahal sets screen on fire'. Others included ` LHC dismisses petition against Indian movies', `Taj Mahal banned from cable TV', `India offers to hold Pakistani film festival in Mumbai', `Indian movies not a threat to local cinema', and the last but not the least `Hats off to Musharraf, says Feroz Khan '.
One sat just two tables away from the scene of the melodrama that seems to have been blown out of proportion by the media in India. While what was being said was certainly boring and embarrassing, unbecoming of an icon and a film star, it certainly wasn't what has been reported in the newspapers or flashed on television screens. Not more than one Pakistani newspaper chose to take a note of it really. At best, it could only be termed as a minor showdown between a lost in a time zone hurt celebrity and a brazen MC, Sakre Alam. Both had a point.
Meandering speech
Feroz Khan hadn't finished his meandering speech when the mike was pulled out of his hand, and the camera taken away. He took offence, and ordered the camera and mike be brought back. Next, when a sheepish MC impolitely asked Manisha Koirala to stand up and speak (while all the others gave their bytes sitting down), Feroz Khan roared: "You are insulting the lady. You should kneel down in front of her rather than ask her to stand, and speak." He, however, did say earlier that "India is a secular country. We have a Muslim President and a Sikh Prime Minister. We are secular. We love our country more than you love your country... Muslims killing Muslims." Although he did talk a lot of crap, going round and round in circles, throwing up names of renowned Pakistani poets, musicians and singers, calling Ahmed Faraz as `Faraz Ahmed Faraz', reciting lines from his poem about life's journey. Fuming, fretting and forgetting.
But all said and done, it was an overwhelming, somewhat humbling experience - the visit to Pakistan for the premieres of Akbar Khan's film. The public response was mind-boggling. The receptions, whether by the famous citizenry or state functionaries, were bursting with warmth and grandeur. The famed Pakistani hospitality had to be seen and believed.
Printer friendly
page
Send this article to Friends by
E-Mail
Friday Review
Bangalore
Chennai and Tamil Nadu
Delhi
Hyderabad
Thiruvananthapuram
