PNCA online Eid Milan brings together celebrities

Writers, actors discus lockdown experience, art and culture

ISLAMABAD: Eid Milan parties are an integral part of social life in the country, however, this year no such gathering is being held due to the coronavirus outbreak.

While adopting the social distancing for Eid gatherings, Pakistan National Council of Arts (PNCA) invited various Pakistani celebrities for online meet-up through video calls for its programme titled 'Eid Gup Shup' for art lovers.

PNCA Director Dr Fozia Saeed had creative and entertaining discussions with big names in entertainment industry such as Sania Saeed, Irfan Khoosat, Kishwar Naheed, Hina Bayat, Khalid Ahmad, Shahid M Nadeem and actor Muhammad Qavi Khan.

‘Negotiating the third space’ held at PNCA

Dr Saeed, while going live on Facebook official page of PNCA, discussed the ups and down of Pakistan's entertainment industry with these celebrates along with talking about their personal and professional experiences during on-going pandemic of corona-virus.

Actress Sania Saeed said that expressing her thoughts through arts has been the greatest pleasure of her life. She said government institutions such as PNCA and Lok Virsa hold extra responsibility for promoting artists with talent and make them strong to fight the cultural invasions.

She stressed that being a theatre artist herself, she wanted to work in every regional language including Saraiki, Sindhi, Pashto and Hindku. "PTV used to produce dramas in all national languages and it used to encircle the big numbers of audience across the country," she recalled.

Writer and columnist Kishwar Naheed also talked about her decades-long journey in literature. She said that our youth must learn to read. "Reading opens the mind's canvas and makes one think differently. This depicts the progressive approach of the society," she said.

Saudi artists work displayed at PNCA

Recalling the golden days of PTV, veteran actor Irfan Khoosat said: “our content back in the days had more depth and always had a message within.”

Drama series written by legendary writers such as Ashfaq Ahmad and Bano Qudisya was the peak of drama writing in our industry, he said.

Veteran actor Muhammad Qavi suggested the young generation of actors to struggle patiently. "When you get everything at once, it makes you numb creatively. Our young generation has great talent all they need to practice is respect an patience", he added.

Published in The Express Tribune, May 29^th, 2020.