Art has always been subject to hate throughout history. There are always certain extremist groups all across the globe that immediately resort to violence to take out their aggression at artists. The entertainment industry as a whole is no stranger to such vitriol.
Recently, the set for Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s epic war drama ‘Padmaavat,’ was vandalized by religious extremists on multiple occasions. There has also been a rise in stand-up comedians being attacked recently at events due to rising political tension everywhere.
One such incident that sadly took place was in Karachi at the set of Nabeel Qureshi’s upcoming project.
What Happened
The ‘Quaid-e-Azam Zindabad’ director was filming a project with TV sensation Hira Mani on Monday when a mob attacked the cast and crew on their set in Karachi. The rest of the cast present included Mani, Gul-e-Rana as well as other child actors.
SeePrime released an official statement yesterday stating the following
This statement reveals that the production team received a noise complaint, which the cast and crew tried to comply with. However, despite their efforts, a mob of about a hundred people descended upon them. This group vandalized the set, damaged valuable equipment, and harassed the cast and crew.
Hira Mani told Arab News that armed men entered set in a “pre-planned” attack and beat up crew after director had a spat with neighbors
“They were going to burn us, [they were] chanting ‘Allah O Akbar’.” Hira continued.
Arab News was also able to get their hands on a copy of the police report which states that up to 50 people, many of them carrying sticks, broke into the house while shooting was ongoing and beat up its owner who rents the property for film shoots. The attackers also beat up crew members and injured five, including one who was hit on the head with a pistol.
Demand For Justice
Nabeel Qureshi immediately took to Twitter after the incident to try and bring awareness to the issue.
He then went on to directly address Sindh Police and his fellow artists to immediately take action and to not let this issue die down.
Hira Mani also took to Instagram Stories to thank the crew who kept them safe while asking everyone to pray for their recovery.
Many celebrities came forward to show support including Mahira Khan and Osman Khalid Butt who took to Twitter to express outrage.
What Can Be Done?
The responsibility falls on film studios and production companies to provide better security for their cast and crew seeing that the area where this incident took place, Jamshed Quarters, has a history of such behavior.
Just last year the Yasir Hussain directed TV serial ‘Aik Thi Laila’ was put through a similar ordeal while filming at the same location. Filming, ideally, should not have even been taking place in a location that was known to not be safe especially when there were women and children involved.
Ahsan Khan also took to Instagram Stories to specifically mention the security risks in areas such as Jamshed Quarters.
The more things change the more they stay the same and, in this case unfortunately, they may be getting worse. This incident has the potential to set a very dangerous precedent for the future if our law enforcement agencies don’t take the required measures moving forward. Simply making arrests will certainly not be enough.
We at Galaxy Lollywood send all our prayers and warm wishes for all those who got injured and the ones still dealing with this traumatic experience.
