The Pakistani artistic community disappointed by the announcement of Karachi's visit to Shabana Azmi and Javed Akhtar | Hindi movie news

The Pakistani literary and artistic community expressed disappointment at the old Indian actress Shabana Azmi and her husband singer-songwriter Javed Akhtar who, following the terrorist attack in Pulwama, canceled their visit to Karachi to attend the centennial celebrations of the birth of Kaifi Azmi. "Shabana and Javed Sahab have always been seen as progressives in favor of improving Indo-Pakistani relations, so did their reaction to the Pulwama incident surprise the literary and literary communities of India?" Karachi, "Omair Alavi, a well-known film critic, said.

Saturday, the Pakistan Arts Council, Karachi, regretted the decision of the two artists. Arts Council Chair Ahmed Shah also expressed regret for Akhtar's comments. "His comments do not seem appropriate for a literary person."

During one of the deadliest terrorist attacks of the three decades of militancy in Jammu and Kashmir, a Jaish kamikaze crashed into a vehicle laden with explosives in a CRPF bus in Pulwama district, killing at least 40 people and injuring others.

Azmi said Friday that she and her husband Javed Akhtar had decided not to attend the centennial celebrations of the birth of Kaifi Azmi in Karachi. The couple was invited to Pakistan by the Karachi Arts Council for a two-day event.

After the attack, Azmi said that she felt weakened in her belief that interpersonal contact can force the establishment to take the measures that dictate.

The president of the Canada Council said he regretted that Azmi had lost hope. "I do not criticize her, but we are deeply saddened by the way she expressed her disappointment after the Pulwama attack," he said.

"We are firmly convinced that it is the artists and people considered for their literary and artistic contribution that give people hope, but they never disappoint, but this time, Shabana Azmi seems extremely disappointed. "

The Arts Council is organizing a conference on February 23 and 24 to mark the 100th anniversary of the birth of the poet Kaifi Azmi. Many poets and literary personalities from Pakistan and other parts of the world were invited to the event. Shabana Azmi and Javed Akhtar had confirmed earlier this month their visit to the city to attend the two-day event.

Veteran actor Shakeel also expressed his sadness that the husband and wife are not coming.

"The saddest thing is that after always denouncing extremism and promoting people-to-people contacts, they have now lost hope," he said.

At the same time, owners, distributors and exhibitors of Pakistani movie theaters fear that their business will suffer as they expect a strong reaction from the Indian film industry.

Nadeem Mandiwalla, a renowned Indian film importer, distributor and operator, who also owns cinemas in Karachi and other cities, said he feared the worst.

"In view of the evolution of things, I fear that very soon, the Indian film industry also stops exporting its films to Pakistani distributors, as was the case there is a few years, "he said.

Nadeem said that if Indian films were not available, it would seriously affect the Pakistani entertainment industry, especially the owners of movie theaters and related businesses.