She feels Pakistanis are very warm and loving. PHOTO: FILE
MUMBAI: Bollywood actor Juhi Chawla was sceptical about visiting Pakistan to meet her relatives, but upon her return she says she has had a pleasant and memorable trip. She came here to attend a wedding.
“I’m back in Mumbai from Karachi. To be honest, I was wary of going to Pakistan, but it turned out to be a nice memorable trip,” Juhi tweeted.
Talking about her experience in the country, she said, “Two worlds co-exist in Karachi — a normal city with traffic, bustling markets and malls and quite another on the outskirts. It was a private, short and pleasant stay. I loved being with my cousins and nieces.”
The actor, along with her husband Jai Mehta, came to Karachi to attend a family wedding. She says they walked around with a security man.
“We had an armed security man at all times that we left the house. All important people have them there. It’s a reminder of the undercurrent of violence,” she posted.
Juhi says several people across the border were happy to see her — a mark that Bollywood is indeed popular in Pakistan.
“Pakistani people enjoy Indian movies. They’ve watched them all and were so pleasantly surprised and happy to see me there,” she said. “As I said my goodbyes, the cook says ‘Salman [Khan] bhai ko mera salaam kehna [Give my regards to Salman bhai]’; the helper says, ‘Please bring Shahrukh Khan here too’; the maid enquires, ‘Will you be meeting Aamir [Khan]?’ I couldn’t help but laugh. They were all so sweet,” Juhi wrote.
Published in The Express Tribune, January 9th, 2013.
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Thank you madam. Hope you spread the message of love to your country men, many of whom think all Pakistanis are terrorist. Come back again.
Juhi Chawla's uncle was kidnapped (not by Taliban but for money like other business people) and later released when government probably (secretly) paid. He was treated well (as most rich people are because kidnappers are only after money). . Her uncle, Staish Anand, is a biggest film distributor (now I think he must be dealing in Bollywood films as local industry is not doing well)
@What?!: The fact is that 85% of Muslims that were living in present day India continued to live in present day India - only 15% left. On the other hand85% of Hindus and Sikhs that were living in present day Pakistan were driven out.
Those are the facts of partition.
@What?!: @vikas: You two should be ashamed of yourselves.
Juhi thank you for coming!
@Vns: Dude where do you come up with these stories, there are more than 1 million Hindus specifically in Sindh Province... majority are in Dahirki , Ghotki , Mirpur Mathelo , Hyderabad , Karachi , MirupurKhas , Thar etc.... Myself is Hindu too and from Hyderabad, Sindh , Pakistan and i still have home there and proud to be Part of that Land which is mine and my identity ...
@vikas: Chawlas are not only Punjabi's , there are Sindhi Chawlas in Pakistan mostly from Larkana District in Sindh Province ... For others Juhi visited before also when her Grand Mother ( Naani) passed away in Larkana side.... She herself is Sindhi too... Secondly no one was kicked out from Pakistan indeed it was due to uncertain reasons and due incidents which occured during partition , everyone looked for safety and left , same was the reason for Muslims in India ... Indeed the Sindhi Hindus in Sindh side were more Prosperous and some of the people who had eyes on their lands and properties played the drama of Hindu -Muslim conflict just to grab those lands ..otherwise there wasn't any religious issue.. Most of the rumors came from the authors on both sides who wanted to sell the cheap history books with distortion ... it was all money game eventually...
Are her relatives Muslims, most Hindus in Pak converted to Islam to survive and prosper.
@vikas the other side of the coin is that lots of Muslims were kicked out of Delhi and are now living in Lahore and thereabouts. Lets be impartial on reporting facts, shall we :-)
@Supersequel having so many plurals like nice cities, morotways it was abrupt to see the capital without "s". Why so much kanjoosi put an s there as well.
I don't know why this news needs to be highlighted too much. It shows how inferior we feel before these average people. Have u seen any indian newspaper referring any Pakistani actor of saying similar things
@ P Oberoi:
what situation man? Big cities have issues of violance and thugs & Karachi is no different. Karachi is a huge metropolis and is not a war torn jungle as many Indians try to portray through their comments. There are foriegn banks, foriegn fast food chains, foriegn invetsments, foreign companies all working here. There are huge shopping malls here as well with almost all international brands available. so kindly please dont comment unless you are abosultely sure as to what you are talking about. Also do you think that people should stop going to Dehli because of the rape incident? I am sure you would feel differently about that!
Both sides of the divide carry a lot of baggage on their shoulders. If somehow the excess baggage can be discarded then both sides will realise that for centuries their coexistance was quite unique and pleasant.
It must be said that Juhi has a lot of courage. Few would have done what she did given the situation Pakistan is in.
@KDP: CHAWLA is a Punjabi name.. lot of Punjabis were living in today Paksitan before Muslims occupied it and kicked them out in 47.. now theyre a lot of them in Delhi
@KDP: Juhi is a frequent visitor to karachi, she has a khala in karachi, his uncle was kindanpped by taliban a few years back and zardari paid for his ransom to get him released after a year or so.
At Mohinder: bullocks. I guess the ISI and the FIA also refuse your cricketers visit. Indians have a very negative perception of Pakistan. This one guy told me how shocked he was seeing more organized cities, motorways, girls not in burqas, malls, cafes, a clean capital, and far less visible poverty. Clear your perception bro because your media doesn't do that.
she doesn't know the nazariya of pakistan else she would have been much more happy :)
Most bollywood stars would like to visit pakistan,people of pakistan are very fond of bollywood movies,but for some reason pakistan security agencies will not issue visas. I remember even people like sunil dutt was refused one time.Most bollywood actors will show their urge to visit pakistan but will never apply for visa, for the fear of refusal.
Wish you had mentioned type of relationships she has in Karachi. Mother's side, Father's side? Brothers, Sisters, Uncles Cousins etc
Please come and visit again...to Juhi Chawla and all other friendly Indians.