Producer Humayun Saeed, a top actor in Pakistan, initially wanted Afridi to take the lead role, but the cricketer said it would not be in keeping with the traditions of his tribe. PHOTO: REUTERS/FILE
KARACHI: Pakistani cricket star Shahid Afridi demanded on Wednesday that the producers of a film about a boy emulating his rise to stardom cut an "obscene" scene which he fears could damage his image.
The big-hitting all-rounder had given his blessing to "Main Hoon Shahid Afridi" ("I am Shahid Afridi") but is now worried that some aspects may lead young viewers astray.
The $1 million Pakistan-made movie tells the story of a young man who dreams of becoming as great a player as Afridi, and the trials he faces as he tries to follow in his hero's footsteps.
Afridi, who hails from Pakistan's deeply conservative tribal district of Khyber on the Afghan border, was furious at a scene in which the hero hugs and kisses a girl in a nightclub.
The scene was shown in trailers for the film on various TV channels.
"I had given permission for the film with an aim to give kids some positive healthy entertainment, to divert their minds towards cricket and it should not have obscene things," said Afridi, 33.
"I want to tell the people that the film is not related to my life."
Afridi, who shot to stardom in 1996 aged 16 when he hit a world record one-day international hundred off 37 balls, said he wanted the producer to cut the scene.
"A lot of kids and families would go to watch the movie because of me and if they see things like that they will feel bad, so I hope they remove those scenes and run the film," he said.
The movie had already suffered technical glitches which pushed its release forward from the slated Eid holiday weekend, which is a popular time for producers to release their films.
Producer Humayun Saeed, a top actor in Pakistan, initially wanted Afridi to take the lead role, but the cricketer said it would not be in keeping with the traditions of his tribe.
Afridi said he was also concerned because the film's promotional material wrongly suggested he had acted in the film.
"I had declined the offer to act because my elders are against acting, nor did I charge a single penny from them," he said.
The movie is a big budget production and was highly anticipated ahead of other rivals being released around Eid.
COMMENTS (37)
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Afridi’s reservations should have had been taken on board. After all he gave permission for the film and it was a film based on his character. It was mean of Humayun Saeed not to do so.
there is a lesbian kiss in the movie, please the censor board should do somthing about it, this is wrong and vulgar and unacceptable!! children watched that movie in the theatre!
Why is Afridi's name used to spread this fahashee and behudgee? This movie must be banned. God will ask Afridi why he allowed his name to be used to lead millions of people astray!
Wonder where were these elders when you were cheating by chewing balls (Not Wasim's but the actual cricket ball) , Wonder what you cared about children's ethics when you were cheating in destroying the pitch at Faisalabad.
Another cheap publicity stunt by Afridi, he is not acting in the movie so why these comments. Producer spent 1 million so will try everything to recover cost. Mr Me drama continues...
......and this man wants to be the captain, again!!!
isn't appearing in tv commercials acting?? and does afridi really endorses those products and uses them?
Some odd ten years, Mr Afridi was grounded because of a sex scandal. Can someone investigate that?
For those who are critisizing Afridi senselessly, Afridi has every right to object on any scene that he is offended by as they are using his name to market their film. N I am sure that he hasnt been told each n every dialogue aforehand.
come on shahid - be a sport, have a big heart
@Donga Bonga: clicked reomnded byy mistkae bt thng is dt u r nt understng is that there is difernce between doing movie cheap scenes and an ad we all know he is a practicing relgious man
The film was not having any technical problems, it was not released on Eid due to the launching of Chennai Express of Shah Rukh Khan (yes the real SRK :-O ) and the producers were afraid for losing the hype and opening business. SRK's new movie has broken many records in Inida & Globally including the fastest one to reach 100 crore business. Hope this film will do little better in this new competitive market where Indian Big Budgets are being released in Pakistan frequently nowadays. Big challenge for novice film-makers.
That's the reason we loved u! God be with you... God bless u.
As if its the only problem facing Pakistan.
@Fayez: Kissing and Hugging scenes are not allowed to be aired in Pakistan
Why ? What is wrong in hugging and kissing ? You want to know what is obscene ?
Obscene is video of dozens of Pakistani soldiers being beheaded and their heads hung from trees. Obscene is tortured and badly mutilated bodies of young Baluch men decorating the sides of the road. Obscene is blowing up of girls' schools and assassination attempt on Malala. Obscene is Taliban videos of women being stoned to death, being tied and whipped.
Obscene is digging up of Ahmadi graves and genocide of Hazara people. Obscene are the scenes of lawyers showering flower petals on self-confessed murderers.
Without this scene, movie's stay in the cinema will be no longer than Afridi's stay at wicket.
Lala you made me proud again today!! Btw where is censor board?
aaa
Nice Work Afridi .... Thumbs up !!!
He's absolutely right. He is entitled to air his opinion on a movie that uses his name... especially if he gave his blessings without charging them anything, with the express purpose of promoting cricket. If he disapproves of this kind of behaviour (like most of Pakistan, btw) then he has a right to express his disapproval at being used to promote it!
As for his opinions on acting. Everyone has his own standards. If his elders dont want him associated with it, and he chose to respect their wishes he is not answerable to anyone here. It is an entirely personal matter.
GOOD JOB LALA,, i was wondering in past few days when some 1 will take action against these vulgar scenes,,, huda kai kelia,, and bol didnt hd such vulgar senses, Y?? bez soaib mansoor did his homework and research on his projects,,, humayun saeed though great artist as we watched his dramas for last decade or so,,, didn't seems to had a good research and was afraid of failure there fore added theses VALGUR and in many peoples view masala scence.,
@MA: so whts else he should think,,, tell me about valgarity, whts this term,,, isint this film have valgure scence,,,
please remove the club scene and add a few shots of aerial shooting which i have seen him doing on tv news
People need to understand that he could actually get killed under Pasthunwali's code of ethics.
Lalagee, our talented directors and producers think that without "masala" their product will not be popular in the nation that ranks number 1 in googling porn and I must be right in assuming that they also think its necessary for the oscar race! Which you know, we wont get by this at all.. So you should have atleast read and signed the script before hand..
The girl should have been Sonail Bandre instead?? ;)
Ahem... Lala, what u do in television commercials is called acting as well !
Mr Afridi , showbiz has nothing to do or care about traditions or heritage.
You should have made a deal with them and even taken money.
This way they would have cross checked the script with you and you would have had the chance to avoid what you wanted.
Now even if they remove the scene , we will always be able to download and watch the "Directors Cut".
Its spilt milk now...
In Pakistan the only Obscene thing is the Girl's clothing and drinking. Other than that everything is Moral and alright.
Scenes involving violence in films should also be removed. Look at all the violence, militancy, bombings across Pakistan. Mindless youth will be led astray.
IF these are Shahid Bhai's views on acting i respect his views.I said "IF" because the fact that acting in advertisements is okay but not in plays or movies put me in confusion.
Great work Afridi. What can you expect from a film in which Mahnoor Baloch & Humayun Saeed are acting.
typical Afridi's behavior! not thinking beforehand and now complaining....
When you play with fire, get ready to burn. Afridi shouldn't have agreed to the movie in first place.