“We didn’t expect this video to become a rage so quickly,” says veteran Pakistani actress Bushra Ansari about the song ‘Humsaaye Maa Jaaye,’ that roots for friendship between India and Pakistan. The song has gone viral within four days of its release and has been viewed 245,000 times on YouTube alone.
Speaking with SBS Punjabi from Karachi, Ms Ansari says that even though she isn’t active on social media, she doesn’t know the numbers around the video but what she does know is that the people of both countries genuinely want better relations between themselves.
“My eldest sister, Neelum Ahmed Bashir, who is a well-known writer, has written the lyrics of the song. My younger sister, Asma Abbas and I have performed in the video. All of us expected this to be liked by people but not in the way it has become a rage. In fact, I’m now wondering what have we done! My phone hasn't stopped ringing since this we released the song,” laughs Ms Ansari, a highly acclaimed artiste of Pakistan who enjoys a sizable fan following in India too.
The three sisters have worked on this song, ‘Gawandane, gawandane,’ which was released on April 4 to promote the idea of rebuilding soured ties between India and Pakistan following the attack on Indian paramilitary troops in Indian-administered Jammu and Kashmir in February.
Ms Ansari has been seen in Indian homes via her TV dramas Bilqees Kaur and Dolly Ki Ayegi Baraat, which were aired on entertainment channel, Zindagi from 2015 till 2016. The characters she played in these dramas, Bilqees aka Balwant Kaur and Saima Chaudhary made her a household name in Indian and Pakistani homes.
“I don’t blame the people of India but their government is coming down very hard on their relationship with Pakistan. It is the Indian government which is expressing their hatred towards Pakistan. Our PM Imran Khan has handled India so wisely. Former president Pervez Musharraf also walked up to India and extend the hand of friendship towards India. This doesn’t mean Pakistan being a small country is afraid of India. It only means that we genuinely want peace,” Ms Ansari says adding that she doesn’t want to do the typical and criticise Indian PM Narendra Modi while assessing the current climate between India and Pakistan.
Listen to this interview in Punjabi by clicking on the player at the top of the page.
