We should think before chasing Western ills such as feminism and cancel culture: Vasay Chaudhry

He spoke about the emergence of cancel culture and its relevance in comedic scripts, and royalties in Pakistan

Vasay Chaudhry is known for the many hats he has donned during his illustrious career in the showbiz industry. From being an actor and writer to a host and producer, the 41-year-old has been a part of several commercially and critically acclaimed projects. He also currently serves as the chairperson for Punjab Censor Board. 

Members of the fraternity, however, believe that Chaudhry has made his own “club” and signs projects with people he allows in his clique.

In an appearance on The Talk Talk Show on Express TV, Chaudhry was asked about several things including his thoughts on the cancel culture and increased sensitivity around certain topics in today's world. Chaudhry said he has two ways of answering this question – one from a perspective of an industry insider and one as the general public.

Cancel culture and comedy

“As someone who is part of this field, I think that cancel culture is a very weird concept. You can’t just completely ban someone. There are restrictions now that are very dangerous for a creative person. Everyone should have their own personal filter of respect and sensitivity but a creative person needs to take risks,” he stated.

Coming to his second perspective, he added, “Please sit down. Calm down and relax. All your cancel culture, nepotism, elitism, feminism – all of these are Western ills. Leave social media activism, we’ve had enough of it.”

Chaudhry admitted that he has also evolved through the years and so has his work, but he believes that people shouldn’t blindly follow a campaign and endanger someone’s life because of a certain way of thinking. “I have also tried to change my writing. On my show, since about 6-7 years, we have banned a certain derogatory word for transgenders. It’s not used anymore, and we cut around it if someone uses it for the transgenders on our show. There’s also a 1000rs fine on using it. Similarly, there are other words as well,” he exclaimed.

“Perhaps some 20 years ago, I also used such words. All of us did but I have grown and evolved. There came more awareness and I thought about it and realised that its wrong. But that thought process is important. A similar thought process should be involved before one chooses to embark on something like the cancel culture phenomenon. I think we miss the thinking part,” he said.  

‘Vasay has his own camp’

The host claimed that many industry insiders complain that Chaudhry has his own ‘camp’ within the industry and that he doesn’t work with anyone else outside of it. Responding to that, Chaudhry simply said that he doesn’t do enough work to experiment with people and so, when he does, he chooses to do it with people he knows.

“I do my projects after long gaps of 3-4 years but it’s not like I only work with my friends. If that was true then Naumaan Ijaz and Ali Kazmi would be in all of my films and dramas. They aren’t right? Aamina Sheikh and Humayun Saeed have been in my projects and I don't think there's any harm in working with someone who shares a certain wavelength with you,” he said.

Chaudhry went on to list his films and cast to prove the allegations wrong. “Mai Hoon Shahid Afridi had Ainy Jaffri and seven new male actors. There were 12-13 men and 7 of them were new. Hamza Ali Abbasi, Gohar Rasheed, and Nauman Adeeb were introduced in the film. Mind you, they were introduced and weren’t my friends,” he said.

“My second film had Humayun, Hamza and Ahmed Ali Butt. Ahmed is my childhood friend but he was fit for the role, you can’t say he got the role because of our friendship. JPNA 2 was a sequel so it makes sense that the cast was similar but even then, the girls were different in the second instalment,” he said, implying that he tries to work with other people but it's also about how well you get along as a team.

Chaudhry said that he recently worked with Sheheryar Munawar and Ramsha Khan in Teri Meri Kahaaniyan and hosted a show with Yasir Hussain – and all three impressed him quite a lot. The London Nahi Jaunga actor has two upcoming projects that were announced earlier.

“You can ask me about the script and acting but ask the makers about the progress on those projects. I don’t even know why they’re not being made. I’ve done my work as a writer. As an actor, I can only work when I get called to a set. Ask Humayun Saeed and Nadeem Baig why my films are announced and not being shot,” he said. 

No Royalties

When asked whether he watches local television or films, Chaudhry said no, citing that most stories are recycled with the same plot and narrative and he watches some shows that are different every now and then.

“I still haven’t seen Jackson Heights completely except for the first five episodes. It wasn’t even that famous when it ran on TV but became a hit after social media came. There were always ads that irritated me in between. I also wrote it as a 24-episode series but it was stretched to some 27-28 episodes. The flow inside my head broke anyway so I never watched it then. Maybe I should,” he said.

Upon whether such scripts don’t get made now, he blamed the abundance of writers and a lack of income. “I don’t write TV scripts anymore. Now our channels and production houses don't invest in those stories because of the financial aspect. It is also because we’ve made everyone a writer. Not everyone can write so much. There are no royalties and it’s a big problem,” he asserted.

“If I make a show, it becomes a hit, gets played in 6 more countries, gets millions of views on YouTube, and I get a cut of it, then I’ll perhaps write two well-thought scripts instead of four rushed ones. But if I write four  just to earn some money, then three of them will definitely be bad,” 

“Actors don't talk about us either. Sometimes it's so funny because celebrities talk so much about animals, police injustice, judiciary, politics and any social problem on social media and interviews but never about their own industry," he laughed. “Instead of posting sushis and business class  travel pictures, perhaps they should talk about real problems.”

Concluding, he also said that the success of dramas and films is based on what people like at that time. “There is a telefilm that’s called Kaash Tu Mera Baap Na Hota. Nadeem Baig directed it and it starred Syra Yousuf, Javed Sheikh, Ismail Tara and me.  Nadeem and I love it, but people don’t. I also really liked Inspector Khoji.” 

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