As political tensions continue to simmer between nuclear-armed nations Pakistan and India in recent times, contemporary art is some of the only places left in which arch-rival nations enjoy more fertile ties.
Despite the heat stemmed due to political rhetoric, Fauzia Kehar, a socialite, and finance expert, invites artists from both Asian nations to share lovely moments including veteran Bollywood lyricist, poet, and screenwriter Javed Akhtar.
Pakistani and Indian stars are in touch, but cannot openly admit the love on screen as the political fanatics targeted them with boycott moments, especially on the side of the border as people showing love for Pakistan could be deemed anti-India.
Despite stars keeping their ties low-key, a recent interaction of Pakistani and Indian stars steals the limelight as fan gushing, taking the meeting as hope for a change in the coming time where art continues to bring people together, transcending the high-standing boundaries.
Known for his evergreen songs, Ali Zafar, BulBulay famed Ayesha Omar, and Joyland star Sarwat Gillani were among the faces that were spotted rubbing shoulders with Javed Akhtar – wordsmith par excellence, and his daughter Zoya Akhtar, a rising filmmaker.
Fauzia shared some of the lovely moments from the recent meetup, and one such clip of the event show Ali Zafar paying tribute to veteran writer with Mere Naina Sawan Bhadon.
Chirails star Sarwat Gillani was go gaga after meeting the legendary artists across the border and shared snaps of the meetup on her social media, by expressing gratitude to Fauzia Kehar for hosting the event.
In a social media post, she said “Had the pleasure to meet the Master, Javed Akhtar Sahab and his brilliant filmmaker daughter Zoya Akhtar. Thank you Fauzia Kehar for opening your heart and home to us, you’re a wonderful host to say the least.”
As the socialite hosted the event, allowing two sides to pass on vibes of the soft power of culture; fans are ecstatic too to see the collaboration of two sides to rekindle contemporary art.
