ISLAMABAD: We were fighting for the United States and they were cursing us though we did not need to take part in the war. At that time, it was said Pakistan was a very dangerous place, as there were radicals and extremists, said Prime Minister Imran Khan while addressing the National Amateur Short Film Festival here on Saturday.
Imran said soft image was nothing adding that in the war on terrorism, when Pakistanis were called extremists and fundamentalists, a defensive mindset arose in them that they should promote their soft image.
However, he emphasised that speaking English and wearing English clothes was not the soft image but a feeling of inferiority.
“The world respects the one who respects himself first. People thought if they wore English clothes and spoke English, it would be a soft image of Pakistan. I was called Taliban Khan in those days. The soft image comes automatically. The world respects those who first own it. If you want to promote a soft image, then promote Pakistaniyat,” he said.
Imran advised young Pakistani filmmakers not to be intimidated by failures and opt for original material instead of copying, saying ‘if we want to promote the soft image of our country, we must promote Pakistaniyat’. This is a new beginning in Pakistan. I am very happy to see these short films and now we are moving in the right direction. I have seen the evolution of Pakistan’s film industry and I think we started going in the wrong direction from the beginning because we were so impressed with the Indian film industry that we started imitating them. Instead of creating Pakistaniyat or our own thinking, we adopted a different culture,” he noted.
Imran said, “We started copying the Indian film industry. Only the original thing sells in the world, not copying. Ideas are accepted in the world; we have adopted the culture of others instead of our own thinking in making films. Our TV did the best job that was watched in India: come up with your own idea and don’t be afraid of failure”.
He said in the 60s and 70s, people used to go to Kabul to watch movies and listen to the radio because they thought it was a better industry and if we imitated them, people would see us too. A very different culture was beginning to appear on our TV.
Referring to the instance of late vocalist, musician and composer Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan, the prime minister said he had introduced Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan to events around the world, including England and the United States, for Shaukat Khanum Cancer Hospital fund-raising and the big English pop stars started singing his items and became his fans.
Later, many Pakistani pop stars requested him to introduce them too but they didn’t matter because they were copying Western bands.
He said only Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan was important and if he had not passed away, he would have become a big name in the West because they respected his skills.
Imran recalled that when he went to England tour for the first time, seniors used to say ‘we can’t win from England, we just came here to learn’.
