Adil Najam

baadshah-e-jahaaN, waali-e-maasivaa, naeb-ullah-e-fil-arz,
dahakaaN ke naam

[Dedicated to he who is the Emperor of the world,
Lord of all things, God’s deputy on Earth; the peasant]

There was a reason why, in his moving poem, intisaab (dedication) Faiz Ahmed Faiz reserves the single greatest line of reverance for the Dehkaan (peasant). This picture depicts that reason poignantly.

(Village Life Originally uploaded by yasirnisar at Flickr.com)

Adil Najam

Mughal-e-Azam–who many consider one of the greatest Indian films ever made–is coming to Pakistan. Recently re-mastered in color and re-released to a Silver Jubilee reception in India, the movie will get a huge reception in Pakistan where it will be showed as a fundraiser for the October 8, 2005 Earthquake.

According to a report in the Daily Times:

About 20 Indian [Bollywood] artists have confirmed their participation in a telethon transmission on the occasion of the release of the film, ‘Mughal-e-Azam.’ The film is being released to raise funds for the victims of October 8 earthquake.

A special flight of PIA, named ‘Mughal-e-Azam’ flight, will bring these Indian artists to Pakistan. Shilpa Shetty, Neha Dhopia, Sridevi, Bonny Kapoor, Jackey Shroff, Javed Akhtar, Shabana Azmi, Urmila, Ameesha Patel, Salina Jaitley, Prem Chopra, Gulshan Grover, Rishi Kapoor and Rimi Sen are some of the artists expected to attend the telethon. During the flight, PTV will record interviews of the artists and their arrival will be covered live. An official dinner will be arranged in honour of the guests in Karachi on June 24 and the ticket to attend this dinner will be sold for Rs 40,000 (US$ 650). PTV will telecast its nine-hour telethon transmission from 10am to 7pm on June 25 without any break.

Pakistani stars and writers including Nadeem, Samina Pirzada, Reema, Zeba Bakhtiar, Javed Sheikh, Nayera Noor, Asghar Nadeem Syed, Haseena Moin, Tina Sani, Arshad Mahmood, Anwar Maqsood, Fahmida Riaz, Talat Hussain, Shahnaz Sheikh, Marina Khan, Rahat Kazmi, Fakher, Sania Saeed, Nouman Ejaz, Shahzad Roy, Hammayun Saeed, Mahar Hassan, Saqib Malik, Rashed Khawaja and Jamal Shah will be participating in the transmission. A special set depicting Mughal architecture has been built for the show at a cost of Rs three million. The income generated from this show will be donated to the President’s Relief Fund for earthquake victims.

Now that is what you call a party. Maybe too much of a party; but at least it is for a good cause. Lets hope that our Indian guests respect the spirit of the event, and even if they don’t that we hold our tempers. Another embarrassment like the Feroz Khan shout-out or the Pakistan President’s reaction to it would not be pretty for anyone.

Adil Najam

The highlight of President George Bush’s trip to Pakistan some weeks ago was him trying his hand at cricket.

I am told that he did charm some of his critics by ‘giving it a shot’ and retaining his good humour when one of the balls hit him on his head. Luckily for all concerned, he was playing with a tennis ball and not the real (‘cork’) cricket ball. Playing cricket was a good public diplomacy move, even though getting hit was not what his handlers would have wished for.

I had missed it at the time it was broadcast, but I was just told of this rather hilarious video clip. It is from the Jimmy Kimmel Live show, a particularly irreverent late night talk show hosted by comedian Jimmy Kimmel.

Click on arrow at the center of the image below
(or view it directly here):