Dawn Images

After actor Fahad Sheikh was shamed online and then apologised publicly on Wednesday for ‘disrespecting’ industry veteran Mohammed Ahmed on set, fellow actor Faysal Quraishi thinks the time has come to put the matter to rest.

In a reel posted on his Instagram account, Quraishi said he stood behind Ahmed as a member of the fraternity and of the Actors Collective of Pakistan (ACT).

“When I saw Mohammed Ahmed’s video and heard what happened to him, because I am a member of ACT — our association of actors, I represent it and I am a member of the executive committee — we try to make sure no actor feels alone, that’s why I spoke up to support him,” Quraishi said.

He said he was initially unaware who had offended Ahmed, but felt the matter ought to be resolved between colleagues, as is usually the case.

“We have fun on our sets, there’s banter, there’s tomfoolery. Sometimes, there are things that need to be addressed and they are resolved on set. We wanted to resolve this issue within our own circles and put it to rest.”

Quraishi said it was big of Sheikh to admit wrongdoing and apologise on social media. He said the backlash from the public had crossed several lines and was not okay.

“The kind of comments you guys are making. Look, we all make mistakes, we all err at times in life, but that doesn’t mean you get to go after someone’s kids, or their families, or insult them, curse them and cancel them, that’s not done.”

Quraishi said the matter was between Ahmed and Sheikh and asked everyone else to “chill, calm down and let things cool down now”.

Shamoon Abbasi also called for calm and forgiveness in the aftermath of Sheikh’s apology in a video message on Facebook.

The filmmaker said Sheikh apologising “within 24 hours” of the issue coming to light was a good thing and any further “trolling” or “ruining his reputation” would be “excessive”.

What Abbasi said he found “confusing” was how people began dragging any and all young actors when they didn’t know who had disrespected Ahmed.

“Let me tell you, in general, 99 per cent of this lot is super respectful. I’ve worked with them, I’ve worked with Feroze [Khan], Ali Raza. I have not worked with Wahaj [Ali], but I’ve worked with Bilal Abbas and even Fahad Sheikh. Generally, they are very respectful and they try to treat their elders well.”

Abbasi said there were a few different views about the incident and some people claimed Ahmed took part in the jokes too. The filmmaker said people who were present on the set said Ahmed was upset and remained so the next day when he said he didn’t want to work with Sheikh.

Abbasi said there was another way to deal with issues like these, giving the example of Meera, who was asked a series of inappropriate questions on a podcast by journalist Irshad Bhatti in April.

Meera kept her composure to a remarkable degree and tried her hardest to redirect the conversation to her film before calmly walking out.

“Instead of yelling, shouting and making faces, she kept on smiling because she wanted to leave that space with a smile and with grace.”

Abbasi said Meera won hearts with how she exited that interview.

He said Sheikh had apologised and now it was time everyone moved on.