Hindi films are watched with keen interest in Pakistan, as Pakistani plays are watched in India. Pakistani actors also work in the Indian entertainment industry.
Yes, TV is the dominant medium in Pakistan, but it was a conscious decision to have an Indian film as my first release. Being launched in an Indian film with a great script, character, and music is half the battle won. The rest is destiny.
Pakistan is alarmed by the rising Indian influence in Afghanistan, and fears that an Afghanistan cleansed of the Taliban would be an Indian client state, thus sandwiching Pakistan between two hostile countries. The paranoia of Pakistan about India's supposed dark machinations should never be underestimated.
Indian films do well in Pakistan. Pakistani artists do well in India. The signal has always been clear that people on both sides of the fence are not interested in the hatred.
There have always been elements in the Pakistani state that have been hostile to India; which is not to say that the Pakistani government as a whole is responsible for bombing Indian cities. But I think there are entities in the Pakistani security services that operate more or less autonomously. Their role certainly needs looking into.
If I have to choose between a Bollywood film and Pakistan film, it may sound cliched, but I will go with the script first. And if both the scripts are equally good, then I will choose a Pakistan film.
I've been offered roles in Indian films, but I wanted my debut film to be from Pakistan. A lot of people think that I've made my music career from India, but that's not true. I made it big in Pakistan, and then I went across the border.
My father's from Pakistan and he has been a secularist all his life. In the Pakistani context, there's no messing with religion. There's been a battle for the soul of Pakistan since 1947 and I have grown up without any illusions about the dangers of religious power in the context of a country like Pakistan.
I remember I want for a shoot in Tbilisi and my entire Indian crew was allowed to go. But I was stopped because of my Pakistani passport. I was investigated and they took my interview and then they let me go.
I was born a proud daughter of Pakistan, though like all Swatis I thought of myself first as a Swati and Pashtun, before Pakistani.
Al Qaeda has no place in Pakistan. It's a threat to Pakistan. And there should be a convergence of interests between the Pakistani state and the West on security issues, but also on wider economic and social issues.
I want to be the first Pakistani, like some of our counterparts in India, to really go out and show that we Pakistanis can even be successful outside Pakistan.
I am the first Pakistani actress who got the opportunity to work with Shah Rukh Khan as the main lead.
I feel like a lot of Indian fans don't know about my Indian background, so it's funny online that a lot of fans call me this Pakistani dude. No, I'm Indian, too.
Osama Bin Laden was found hiding in a house compound in Pakistan by American forces. Muammar Gaddafi was captured by rebel militia while hiding in a drain underneath a road in Libya. And Pakistani starlet Veena Malik was found by the Indian media hiding in a suburban hotel in Mumbai.
Pakistan now is like a horror film franchise. You know, it's 'Friday the 13th, Episode 63: The Terrorist from Pakistan.' And each time we hear of Pakistan it's in that context.