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Amidst all the outrage over actor Fahad Sheikh’s ‘joke’ with veteran actor Mohammed Ahmed, which the latter found disrespectful, a powerful voice from Islamabad has entered the fray.

Federal Minister for Information and Broadcasting Attaullah Tarar posted about the incident on X on Thursday, calling Sheikh’s actions “not only condemnable but highly deplorable”.

The minister said he had a possible solution in mind to try to make the entertainment industry a more respectful place. He proposed the establishment of a mentorship programme for young actors where they could learn the trade from their seniors.

Tarar said Ahmed would be a suitable candidate to head the programme as a senior TV artist, or a council of senior actors could do it instead. He said he would be calling a meeting of TV artists soon to gather suggestions for the project.

Appearing on the Dareecha podcast on Saturday, Ahmed had recounted an incident where a much younger actor started ridiculing him in the green room. The actor said the man was the show’s lead actor and spoke in a loud voice to boost his sense of importance in the room. The unnamed actor told people, “This man here, Mohammed Ahmed, I first worked with him four to six years ago and he judged me to see whether I could act, then he told the producer I was alright.”

Ahmed also recounted an incident during a shoot in which the actor took a portable fan from one of the other actors and used it like a hairdryer on Ahmed’s head. “He shouted to everyone, ‘Look, I am styling his hair!’”

On Wednesday, after videos allegedly showing Sheikh as the culprit began circulating on social media, he apologised to Ahmed, saying “half baked stories” were used to “set a narrative”.

He went on to say that he had apologised to Ahmed “long before this whole parade of content sparked out [sic]”.

“He is my senior, I am not ashamed to ask for his forgiveness publicly,” Sheikh said.

“And if Ahmed sahab thinks my personal apology was not enough for him, than I apologise to him on this platform as well, I hope you don’t keep any grudges against me because I would neva think of insulting my seniors in any case [sic],” wrote the actor.

Following the six-story-long apology, some members of the fraternity who had earlier expressed support for Ahmed — notably, Faysal Quraishi and Shamoon Abbasi — appreciated the younger actor for saying sorry publicly and called for calm.