Pak artistes flee India

The terror attack in Mumbai has yet again strained relations between India and Pakistan thereby causing panic between its civilians. Feeling this heat are the Pakistani artistes working in India who have now decided to head home. Though reports confirm that adequate steps have been taken by the Mumbai police to ensure the safety of these artists. Pakistan actor Yasir Shah, who has figured in shows like Khwaish and Jiya Jale , will be leaving the country in the coming weeks. “It’s very unfortunate that I had to leave this country like this. I was in talks with few producers for couple of shows but it looks unlikely that I’ll be able to take them. I’ll be leaving for Karachi in a week or two. I hope to return by March provided the tension between our the two countries eases.” One show that is most affected with the current crisis is Sony’s Kaante Ki Takkar . The contest had come down to its final four pairs. Ali Asgar his Pakistani partner Kashif Khan, Urvashi and Pakistan’s Shakeel, representing the ‘Purans’ were to compete against ‘Sumans’ Sudesh Lahiri-Krushna Abhishek, Kamya Punjabi and Rajeev Thakur. However, Shakeel and Kashif had to leave the country in the aftermath of the Mumbai terror attack. When contacted Ali Asgar said, “Kashif and Shakeel had left the country soon after the terror attacks. We were supposed to shoot for the final episode but everything has now gone haywire. We haven’t received any information from the channel or the production regarding further shoot. We’re hoping to have Ali and Shakeel back so that the final episode can be completed.” When contacted, Sony business head Albert Almeida said, “At the moment we can only wait and watch. Beyond this we cannot do anything. We do have a bank of episodes for Kaante Ki Takkar. We’re hoping by then the situation will normalise.” Last month, tellychakkar had reported on a new show Shakeel made in China that was to follow Kaante Ki Takkar. Since there’s a question mark over Shakeel’s availability, there were concerns that the show might be scrapped. Albert though allayed any such fear. “The show was never solely about Shakeel. Plus, it was never named as Shakeel made in China. Just like the other artistes Shakeel was going to be one of the performers. That show is very much on and it’s unfortunate that our Pakistani artistes won’t be part of it.” Laughter Knights on Star One is another show that will not be featuring any Pakistani artistes. Director Pankaj Saraswat says, “We were keen on having few Pakistani artistes. Prominent among them were going to be the legendary Umer Sharif, Rauf Lala, Ali Hassan and Irfan Malik. However, most of these artists had left home during the strike itself. Post this terror attack, we’ve decided against calling any of them.” Another show that will be least affected is Sa Re Ga Ma Pa Challenge 2009 . Zaheer Abbas was the lone Pakistani contender remaining in the competition. However, he too had to flee to Pakistan. “Zaheer had a visa of 60 days but he had to rush home this week. We would want him to return next week provided the situation eases. We didn’t want any risk to his security thus we deemed it better to send him back home,’ says our source from the sets. Well, not all Pakistani feel safe in their homeland. Karachi’s Kashif Khan doesn’t think so. So says Kashif’s Indian partner Ali Asgar. “Kashif hails from Karachi but he himself has told me that he considers India a safer place than his hometown. He’d mentioned to me that the situation in Karachi is such that one doesn’t know whether the person next to you could be a suicide bomber.” Going by the series of terror attacks in our country, one can assume both India and Pakistan are sailing in the same boat.