Pak filmmaker Asim Abbasi: Art felicitates what political conflicts cannot

Pakistani film director Asim Abbasi, who made his digital debut with the web series Churails on an Indian OTT platform for the first time, says such exchange in the field of entertainment, can felicitate unity between India and Pakistan despite the political bitterness between the two countries.

"Art should felicitate something that political conflicts are unable to do, and that is building bridges. For the last few days that is exactly what I am doing. I have been speaking to several Indian journalists, sitting here in the UK but I am a Pakistani. We are connecting through the medium of storytelling, which is one of the oldest forms of entertainment," Asim told IANS

He added: "Earlier people used to gather around fireplaces to tell stories. These days we are doing the same thing on screen. We are watching stories on phones and laptops. The purpose of art is to bring people together. Due to institutional politics, the exchange will get stopped for a while but honestly it is like a magnet. We will keep coming together. Look at our history. We were separated and then came together again."

The web series featuring Nimra Bucha, Sarwat Gilani, Yasra Rizvi, Meher Bano, and Pakistani superstar Mahira Khan in a special appearance.

"Our agenda is different than that of politics, we are not infuriating hate, our stories only bring us together," mentioned the filmmaker who made his debut with the 2018 film "Cake", which was Pakistan's entry at the Oscars.

Asim's 10-episode web series "Churails" is streaming on the OTT platform Zee5.

(Arundhuti Banerjee can be contacted at arundhuti.b@ians.in)

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