Raza Khalid
340 posts



@callmeMaharani Gift it, and buy a new one or ask your bf to buy it. I would in a heart beat ❤️
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The problem with romanticizing Pakistan’s film history through a nationalist lens is that it requires a lot of pretending. Pakistan never really had a great film industry even at the start. Shamim Ara the actress can still be viewed with some romance because some of those black-and-white films were somewhat watchable, and their music often managed to lift them above the ordinary but Shamim Ara the director’s work was not merely mediocre, it was actively bad.
There is also a clear disingenuous in Sanam Saeed suddenly presenting Shamim Ara as a long-term source of inspiration in a scripted tribute. Sanam Saeed as a cultural figure does not come out of that world. She is a Karachi burger who grew up watching western stuff 💯 Her own comfort zone is far closer to Hollywood and Broadway. In fact, she seemed most herself to me in the kinds of leading roles that came out of Pakistani remakes of Broadway musicals, but that stuff is not viable long term so she had to pivot and become Pakistani drama’s sati savitri (albeit less syrupy and bechaari than most).
So the idea that Shamim Ara’s legacy somehow shaped her artistic imagination growing up is hard to swallow and is just being retrofitted and packaged for nationalist purposes. I mean it’s fine, I get it, but it leave no goosebumps because it’s so obviously not true.
noor@n0raland
she’s so well spoken i could listen to her for hours!!
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