Love and marriage don’t have boundaries: Humayun Saeed says we should be allowed to visit India

Actor hopes to reunite with his Indian colleagues and wishes to share the same cultural exchange as before

Actor Humayun Saeed believes in love as a universal feeling that isn’t bound by borders or politics as humans are. The superstar spoke about the many successful marriages he knows of between Pakistanis and Indians, emphasising that there should be no barriers between the two nations as love, marriage and relationships do not have boundaries.

The conversation started with the example of Seema Haider, a Pakistani citizen, falling in love with Noida's Sachin Meena on the mobile game PUBG. She now lives in India with her four children. Speaking to IANS, Saeed opined that it's not just romantic love, but love in all its forms can happen between two nations, and he yearns to meet his loved ones again.

“There are many examples like former tennis player Sania Mirza married Pakistani cricketer Shoaib Malik. I also know a couple - a video director who has married a woman from Lahore, and they are living in Mumbai. I have met them in India. For the last 4-5 years, I have not been able to visit India because of the visa issue. But about 8-9 years back, when I was in India, I met them,” he shared, adding Indian actor Alyy Khan to the list as well.

"It's evident that love, marriage and relationships don't have any boundaries. And there should not be any barriers, especially since we have a common dialect and language. Our relatives live in each other's countries (India and Pakistan),” he stated.

The London Nahi Jaunga actor opened up on his late father, born in India, wished to visit India while he was alive. “My father always wanted to visit India, his birthplace, but now he has passed away. His wish was not fulfilled, but I surely want to visit that place,” he said. "I want that, at the least, we can visit each other's countries and meet each other. I am not saying that we can work together, but at least we can see each other's work, appreciate each other's work, and celebrate things together. There shouldn’t be a problem in this.”

Saeed expressed his disappointment that Pakistanis “unfortunately” do not get visas to visit India. “It has become impossible to travel there now or for Indians to visit Pakistan. It is very bad. Love definitely has no boundaries, and these politicians must understand. I wonder how we can make them understand,” he wondered.

The Bin Roye actor recalled the good old days when he used to cast Indian TV actors Aamna Sharif, Juhi Parmar, Shweta Tiwari, and Rajeev Khandelwal in his shows. Sharif was part of the 2004 Pakistani drama Ana, produced by Saeed. Indian singer Shreya Ghoshal sang the opening theme of the show. The KumKum fame Parmar was also roped in for Saeed’s 2006 drama Tere Ishq Mein.

Reminiscing his friendships with actors and directors from across the border, Saeed opined that he feels terrible that exchanges between nations do not happen that easily now. "Mahesh Bhatt used to come here to visit me, and I used to visit him in India. We are still in touch. He (Mahesh Bhatt) always tried to cordially make India and Pakistan work together, so I made Indian TV actors visit here and work. I loved working there, and eating food in 'Mahesh Lunch Home' in Mumbai. Similarly, when our friends used to visit Lahore and Karachi, they loved our local food and shopping,” he shared.

The Crown actor said that things have taken a wrong turn “unnecessarily.” He said, “We used to enjoy it when visas were open. I used to do post-production of my films there. A short 8-10 days trip and my family used to get very happy. My wife knows about every market in Mumbai. I hope those days come back.”

Saeed hopes that with Asia Cup 2023, the visa process to visit the countries will get easier. “The India-Pakistan World Cup will start soon, so visas should be started. The Pakistani team should visit India and play, and we should also get a chance to visit again,” he said.

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