With Khalil-ur-Rehman Qamar’s profanity-laden diatribe on live television going viral, the reaction on social media, especially from the media fraternity has been swift. Many major stars, such as Bilal Ashraf and Mahira Khan have been quite vocal on twitter and other social media platforms about the incident, however, things have been disconcertingly quiet at Team London Nahi Jaunga’s end.
The project is star Humayun Saeed’s follow up to the super-successful Punjab Nahi Jaunga. Like the original film, it has been penned by Khalil-ur-Rehman Qamar.
Previous spats
It seems that now, at least some cast members are ready to break the silence. Several weeks ago, it was reported that former model and actress Iffat Omar had signed the Nadeem Baig directed venture in what was expected to be a supporting role. This was especially surprising as the actress had earlier taken a strong exception to Khalil-ur-Rehman’s views on senior actors Saba Hameed and Mehmood Aslam. At that time, she had said: “Yes, he (Khalil) should be banned. I mean, why in the world are you talking rubbish about your seniors? You don’t know how to respect them? And in case you don’t, then kindly keep your mouth shut. It would be good for you.” It seemed the two had made finally made peace, as Khalil-ur-Rehman, according to himself, takes an active role in finalizing the cast members for films he writes. At a later instance, Iffat had also expressed her dismay about the wrong gender politics in popular play Meray Paas Tum Ho, which was said to promote misogyny.
London Nahi Jaunga
Now, in a strongly worded post on Instagram yesterday, Iffat stated that working on the film is the “biggest regret of my life,” adding “I apologize and am ashamed of myself for not taking this decision earlier. But from today I boycott him (Khalil-ur-Rehman) and anybody working with him.”
https://www.instagram.com/p/B9UbvhRAfew/
With Iffat distancing herself from the much talked about venture, pressure will mount on the remaining cast members to respond in some manner about the ugly episode that has taken social media by storm.
Especially under the spotlight will be the leads Mehwish Hayat and Humayun Saeed. Mehwish specifically is known to be quite vocal on Twitter and routinely comments on domestic and international happenings, therefore the silence from her side is very noticeable.
We at Galaxy Lollywood sincerely hope that the showbiz fraternity takes a unified stance on the abhorrent incident, and take strict action that will serve as a reminder to all in the future to not abuse their celebrity privilege by using it for hate-mongering.
