Shabnam amazed by new-look Karachi
Dr Ishrat-ul-Ibad Khan with renowned actress, Shabnam and her husband Robin Ghosh during their meeting at Governor House in Karachi.—PPI Photo
KARACHI: Not acting in movies anymore may have put years on her, but film star Shabnam sounds just as sprightly and full of life as when she was the heartthrob of millions of filmgoers in the subcontinent.
The famous actress now lives in Bangladesh. She is these days visiting Pakistan with her husband, music composer Robin Ghosh.
Talking to Dawn on Tuesday, Shabnam sounded pleasantly surprised being in Karachi.
“I feel great in Karachi. It has completely changed. It has become more beautiful (khoobsurat). When I landed here on Monday, it felt as if I was somewhere abroad (kisi bahar ke mulk mein hoon).” By abroad she obviously meant western countries.
It was more than a decade back that the actress last visited Pakistan. A lot has changed ever since. Pakistan has been fighting a war against terror.
Shabnam spent a major part of her life in West Pakistan. On the question of Pakistan’s sociopolitical turmoil her response was: “It feels bad when we hear sad news coming out of Pakistan. As human beings it pains us, saddens us.”
Being an actress, top-notch at that, Shabnam expressed concern about the present state of the Pakistan film industry.
Shabnam said, “its standard has gone down gradually. It has not happened overnight. I think the government should support the film industry.”
“It should give loans to producers. We have done that in Bangladesh. The Bangladeshi government provides producers with finances through a proper system and it has worked well for its film fraternity. It helps and encourages producers and filmmakers,” she added.
Shabnam no longer works in films. But as they say, once an actor, always an actor. She commented: “The last film that I did was I think 12 years ago. It was made in Bangladesh and its title was Amma Jaan. I was the central character in the movie. It was a critically acclaimed and commercially successful film. With regard to your query why don’t I work now, the answer is God has blessed me a lot. I’m enjoying my life.”
Replying to the question as to what were her cherished memories when she worked in Pakistani films, Shabnam remarked: “There are so many of them. I can’t tell you in one single chitchat session. Some of the people I worked with have passed away. I admire a lot of them. A few names that come to my mind are Pervaiz Malik, Nazarul Islam, S Suleiman and Javed Fazil. All are/were very good.”
In recent times, Bollywood has taken the subcontinent’s cinema lovers by storm. Bollywod films are watched in Bangladesh too.
On the issue of the Indian film industry’s comparison with Pakistan and Bangladeshi industries, Shabnam opined: “They spend humungous amounts of money on their films. We can’t invest that kind of money in our movies. Besides, our market is much smaller than theirs.”
Couldn’t Bangladesh and Pakistan have a joint film venture? “Why not? I think such an initiative was taken in the past, but for some reason it could not materialise.”
Earlier in the day, Shabnam along with Robin Ghosh went to PTV Karachi office and took part in a live morning show. Later on she visited the Governor’s House and met the governor of Sindh where they discussed steps that the government had taken to support singer Mehdi Hasan and actor Lehri. Shabnam also paid a visit to Lehri sahib and inquired after his health.
please come forever in pakistan
welcom shabnam and love u
tera saya jahan bhi ho sajna palkain bicha doon,
hasti hooie ankhon ka kajal urtiee hooe zolfoon ka badal,
roothay ho to tum ko kaisay manao piya,
dunya say kiya garz meri dunya tu app hain,
gatay raho, gungoonatay rahoo zindai kay dokoon pay muskuratay raho,
humain khoo kar bohat pachtao gey jab hum nahee hoon gey
unforgettable legend!!!!! SHABNUM !!!! forever alive our HEART
Jahan rahooo Khush Rahooo.
Welcome to Shabnam and Robin Ghosh to my wonderful city Karachi and being amazed by its new look. Shabnam is an versatile actress and I have seen many of her films.
graceful lady still charming
Despite our bangladeshi brothers keep grudges from us but i would like to tell them we still love them. whatever happened with them was the part of conspiracy which is still going on in our country for further partition. May Allah save our country.
Whereas about shabnam , i wasnt the part of that era when she used to be star of silver screen but i saw her movies on PTV, that was an effort of PTV to rekindle her memories!
It was great to read about Shabnam and go thru parts of her interview when she visited Karachi recently.
She was no doubt one of the top stars of yester-years and her performance and elegance. will always be remembered.
welcome to pakistan
Welcome Madam Shabam.
About devlopment of Karachi, I would say she perhaps have not measure the devlopment of Karachi to the devlopment in other major cities of the world during the last decade.
Greatt !!!
Respected MRS.shabnum and MR. rubin gush
the unforgettable Artists for millions of Pakistanis
Mrs. Shuab num since your exit from the country the country film
lovers has lost not only big ICON, but also lost to watch good films
your Arrival in Pakistan
re fresh's the memory of your charming artistic time.
Shabnam Ji : you have left ever lasting memories & still lives in our Heart, wishing you ever lasting Happiness
love u madam shabnam!
I think i have sense of association with this lady. My name is nadeem and in my childhood, a lot of people have asked me this after knowing my name, "Nadeem, tumhari shabnam kahan hai".
Shabnum Pakistan is your home, welcome back. We love you from deep of our heart. You are our soul, our pride.
May God bless you all happiness of life. We welcome Mr. Robin as wel.
Dear Shabnam and Robin: You have been my favorite artists for a long time. Long live both of you and thanks for making our lives richer with the memories of the past. We will never forget both of you.
Wellcome to Pakistan.I have very good memories of you being you a heartthrob of pakistani filmgoers in 70s.Seeing you reminds me of my student life in medical college.Just your name was a hallmark of the boxoffice success of a movie..AAh those were the days.All tributes to you. I wish I were in Pakistan and could see you in real life.May God bless you a long and prosperous life,full of joy and happiness,Ameen
qalandar very nice comments ,your memories from medical school includoing from razi hall are amazing,angd you are still full of enthusiasm for cinema after doing three frcs.please send me your e.mail and phone .
Your classmate dr m.aslam who used to live in razi hall
welcome home
Wonderful to know Mr & Mrs Goash are hale and hearty and doing well! We consider you one of our own and we love you both. God bless you and your family. Seeing here again in this picture brought tears to my eyes…wow.
She got all the fame,wealth, popularity, honor, and love from Pakistan and then left the country (Pakistan) which has gave her everything. That is very disrespectful to Pakistan
i think shabnam should be dis appointed to see Pakistan in this horrible condition
yeha she seems to be complacent that she is not in pakistan but in bangladesh !