Sindh nominated Fahad Mustafa, Mahira Khan for Sitara-i-Imtiaz twice, says culture minister
Sindh Culture Minister Syed Zulfiqar Ali Shah was at the Arts Council in Karachi on Wednesday to open the Wes-Dhaari Sindhi Theatre Festival when he told reporters his ministry had nominated superstars Fahad Mustafa and Mahira Khan for the Sitara-i-Imtiaz twice.
Speaking to the media with an entourage that included Mustafa’s father, veteran Sindhi actor Salahuddin Tunio, Shah called the Aag Lagay Basti Mein star an “international superstar” and said Sindh was lucky to have such a son.
“The culture department nominated [Mustafa] twice for the Sitara-i-Imtiaz, him and Mahira Khan. I don’t know why the federal government rejects [such names],” the minister said.
He said the two actors were included in this year’s recommendations, which were sent to Islamabad after scrutiny by a committee including playwright Anwar Maqsood and the province’s chief secretary.
Neither Khan nor Mustafa was on the list of civil award recipients announced on Friday.
“But I saw that — and I don’t understand why — the federal government doesn’t take it seriously. If you see, these are very big artists,” Shah said, adding that their movies and TV shows were popular not just in Pakistan, but also in India and countries like Saudi Arabia and the UAE.
The minister urged Islamabad to pay due attention to the country’s artists.
While Khan and Mustafa have not complained about the lack of state recognition of their work, some actors have spoken about their own experiences.
Actor Faysal Quraishi quipped in April that the only way he’ll get a civil award for his services to the entertainment industry is by going to his nearest Imtiaz supermarket and asking for a sitara (star).
Quraishi claimed his name was rejected twice for state recognition.
Industry veteran Usman Peerzada went a step further in May when he said he didn’t want a civil award as they had become controversial and any awardee was assumed to have friends in high places.
Unlike Peerzada, Quraishi said he would surely accept a state honour if he were to be bestowed with one.
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