I even asked my father whether SRK is his son or me: Sahir Lodhi

TV host addresses criticism of trying to act like SRK, speaks about vision behind ‘Raasta’ and film promotions

The unthinkable happened on Wednesday night. Popular TV host Sahir Lodhi officially released his debut film Raasta’s trailer. Not that one wanted to see him on the big screen, but well, that has never stopped Lodhi from doing his ‘thing’.

The trailer showed Lodhi dancing to Rahat Fateh Ali Khan’s tune and performing action stunts, which would put Bobby Deol to shame. Additionally, Mathira’s item song was played, which was not any different from any other typical Bollywood item numbers that we have seen in the past.



Abeer Rizvi, Aijaz Aslam, Naveed Raza, Saeeda Imtiaz were all at the launch. The ceremony started with the team behind the film thanking and praising each other – the usual routine at all film launches. When it was Lodhi’s turn to speak, he gave a 30 to 40 minute long monologue. Unfortunately for him, it came out as overly rehearsed, as if he had remembered his lines for an audition or his talk show. One would wonder if he thought he was performing in front of Amitabh Bachchan in Kabhi Khushi Kabhi Gham.

Interestingly, Lodhi also addressed the criticism of trying to look and act like Shah Rukh Khan. "For all those who compare me to Shah Rukh Khan, we just look alike. There is nothing more to it. Even he has addressed the comparison now." But, it was what he said next that cracked the audience up. "I even ask my father whether Shah Rukh is his son or me. He tells me, ‘No, you are’."



After taking up most of the speaking time of his co-actors, Lodhi eventually bestowed them each a few minutes to speak. He even hosted almost the entire show despite having Muzna Ibrahim as the official host. The poor lady merely waited in her seat as Lodhi took over, in his classic talk show host style.

During the speech, or as the attendees would call it ‘performance’, Lodhi spoke about the motivation for making the film. Telling a story, he said he wanted to build a hospital. "We were out in an area in Karachi and I saw a young boy. I followed him and saw he lived in a hut with his family. I spoke to them and the mother told me they wished they all died so they don’t have to suffer anymore. I wanted to build a hospital for them, but I didn’t have the money," shared Lodhi.

"For now, we have built a clinic there and it treats more than 100 patients daily for free. I would like to announce that we will use the money from the film’s earning to build a hospital over there."

Stating the film will release on February 24, Lodhi said, "The hospital’s foundation will be laid just one day after the release, on February 25. And it will be named after my mother, because without her, nothing would have been possible."



Moreover, one cast member that was not in presence was Shamoon Abbasi. In the Q&A session, the team was asked about his absence and the rumours that he was upset with some of his scenes being deleted from the film. "I invite you to go through the script. There was only one scene that was deleted and it only made Shamoon’s character better. We all had some scenes deleted from the film because of time constraints. I’m sure if he’s upset, it’s just a minor thing that will be sorted out. There’s nothing huge," mentioned Lodhi.

When asked about the marketing strategy, Lodhi said he will promote the film in all over Pakistan. "I’ll promote it everywhere. Be it Gujrat, Gujranwala, or Peshawar, I will promote it everywhere. This film is for everyone."

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