Pakistani entertainment industry has a huge fan base in India – whether it’s their dramas, films or their actors, Indians have always showered their love on them. Recently, one such occasion was when Pakistani film Nayab (2024) was screened in India during Yellowstone International Film Festival 2024 and received a tremendous response from people.

The film is a sports drama that shows the journey of a young girl, who fights against all odds and rebels against her parents, to become a professional cricket player. It features ‘Tere Bin’ actor Yumna Zaidi in the lead role alongside Fawad Khan, who plays her brother.

In an exclusive conversation with News24, Fawad Khan talks about the film and how it’s a reflection of the society. “From what I know, Umair Nasir Ali (director) and his team did a lot of research on the lives and struggles of female cricketers before they started writing the script. A lot of what you see in the film has directly been taken from some real-life incidents,” he tells us.

The trailer of Nayab features a dialogue where the protagonist says, “I will one day defeat India.” It’s worth noting that both the countries – India and Pakistan- often focus on content that portrays the other one as their arch-nemesis. When asked if this kind of reciprocal narrative reinforce harmful stereotypes and nationalist sentiment, rather than encouraging cross-border understanding and empathy, Fawad disagrees. He explains, “I don’t think it needs to be taken that seriously. Generally speaking, India-Pakistan rivalry brings a lot of drama to the game and winning against or performing well against India or Pakistan tends to be a big deal for players. When you are writing a play or a film you tend to think of situations that can be most dramatic for the audience.”
He adds, “Also, these days, Indian team is a hell of a lot better than Pakistan’s, and in fact, better than most cricket teams in the world. Beating one of, or perhaps, the best team in the world is not such a bad dream to have, is it?”

Experience Working With Yumna Zaidi

The actor also shares his experience of working with Yumna, who is an established name in the Pakistani entertainment industry. “She was lovely to work with. She was highly supportive and humble and a thorough professional. When we were going for promotion of the film to different cities, or on different channels for interviews, she would always make it a point to include me and put in a good word about my work (I’m not star in Pakistan, frankly),” he shares.

Working In India A Dream?

It’s not uncommon for Pakistani artists to express their admiration for the Indian entertainment industry and aspire to collaborate with Indian directors and actors. In fact, several Pakistani celebrities, most recent being Mahira Khan and Atif Aslam, have spoken about the opportunity to work in India as a coveted milestone in their careers. Fawad agrees to it to some extent and acknowledges the fact that India has “a bigger film industry”. “We have all grown up watching Indian cinema. Indian cinema and movies are still a big deal in Pakistan, he tells us, adding, “I love a lot of Indian cinema and there are so many artists I have taken inspiration from. I would love to work there. Do I consider working there as a huge milestone in my career? Depends on who I get to work with.”

For Fawad, working in India would be more of an opportunity to work with the talents that inhabit here. “For me success is working with people who are creative and passionate about it and the ones that I look up to. They may not necessarily be huge stars. There are a few theatre artists from Delhi and Mumbai I am friends with and I cherish their friendship and one day hope to work with them. Some, I have already worked with on stage. A theatre group put up a play in Mumbai that I had written. That, I thought, was an honour for me,” he ends.

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