Lahore: There seems there is little hope for indictee Mohammad Asif as pacer Muhammad Amir makes a comeback in the national cricket team following the ban on them after the 2010 spot-fixing scandal. While Asif is yet to complete the remaining two years of his ban, hopes of making a film debut have also died down for good.
India Mein Lahore’s cross-border joint venture will reportedly not see the light of day after Indian screenplay writer Ikram Akhtar pulled out of the project. The film was set to give Akhtar his directorial debut and Asif his first appearance in a film, that too with a lead role.
Asif confirmed that the project had been called off. “I was in contact with the team for two years and was up for the film. But, unfortunately, work has been discontinued due to some issues, especially not getting permission to shoot the film in Pakistan.” With a tarnished public image, Asif thought the film might give him a new lease on life and help regain the confidence of his fans. “I am in great financial strain because of the ban,” he added.
Not long ago, screenwriters Akhtar and Sanjay Masoom visited Lahore and announced the project. Asif had signed up for the cross-border romantic comedy while negotiations were underway with Pakistani actor Neelum Munir for a lead role. The movie was set to be filmed at locations in Pakistan, India and Dubai; The writers also conducted reconnaissance trips to different areas of the Walled City. Also, guerrilla-styled auditions were held in Lahore, Karachi, Islamabad and Dubai to find new faces and hope to encourage positive relations between India and Pakistan.
The news comes at a time when several Bollywood bigwigs such as Mahesh Bhatt, Om Puri, Madhur Bhandarkar and Naseeruddin Shah visited Lahore and expressed the desire to initiate more joint ventures. Where actors such as Ranbir Kapoor said they’d love to work in Pakistani films and Ranveer Singh and Deepika Padukone extended their gratitude to fans in Lahore, the film’s closure comes as a setback.
Bhatt and Pakistani filmmaker Sohail Khan collaborated on Awarapan in 200,7, and the film is widely regarded as the first Indo-Pak cinematic venture. However, Khan said an international collaboration requires serious efforts. “It seems that the non-seriousness of Indian writers caused the film to shut down.”
In an earlier interview,w Asif was confident about what the future had in store for him; he had drawn parallels between a cricketer’s life in the field and an actor’s life on-screen. “Acting [just like cricket] is a glamorous profession. You’re around cameras all the time. [For me] Earlier, it was because of cricket; now, it’s because of acting,” he had stated.
