June 08, 2017
National Award winning director Onir
says he wanted to work with Pakistani singing sensation Atif Aslam for
"Shab", but couldn't due to the cross-border tension.
Onir might have missed the chance to work with Atif this time, but he
says he will definitely work with him in the future.
The director feels it will be a "loss for both industries" if the gap
between the two is not bridged with exchange of talent.
"I really wanted to (work with Atif Aslam). It would have been so
amazing, just like a retreating therapy. But unfortunately at the point
when we had to record, things were not great between (the neighbouring
countries)... There were a lot of problems happening with films and
ours being a small film I couldn't afford that kind of thing," Onir
told IANS over phone from Mumbai.
The entertainment industries on both sides of the border felt the
after-effects following the Uri attack in India last year. A few Indian
outfits imposed a ban on Pakistani artistes working in India and then
some Pakistani theatres pulled down Indian movies.
Filmmaker Karan Johar had a hard time in releasing his "Ae Dil Hai
Mushkil", which features Pakistani actor Fawad Khan.
Onir, who has helmed critically acclaimed movies like "My Brother
Nikhil", "Bas Ek Pal" and "I Am", is not happy with the cross-border
tension spilling into the entertainment world. But he says the
situation is complex.
"I understood the sensitivity. I have a lot of friends in Pakistan and
I have been to the country. I think it is a loss for both our industry
if we don't exchange talent but the entire situation is complex. Both
me and Atif discussed (about it). We will work together in future if we
didn't do this."
As a tribute to his friendship with Atif, Onir has got "one of his old
songs ‘Tere Bin' in the film" as a background score.
Atif recorded the 2006 hit song "Tere bin" for Onir's film "Bas Ek
Pal".
"Shab" features Raveena Tandon, Ashish Bisht and marks the debut of
French actor Simon Frenay in Bollywood. The romance-drama is about
dreams and relationships.
Talking about the film, Onir said: "The journey with ‘Shab' was very
special. It started 17 years ago when I wrote the first draft of
‘Shab'. It has been a really long journey."
Set in Delhi, the film tells a story that revolves around the search
for happiness and love of multiple characters. It will hit the screens
on June 30.