I can’t afford to embarrass Pakistani artists, says filmmaker Muzaffar Ali
Filmmaker Muzaffar Ali, who curates the Sufi festival, Jahan-e-Khusrau in the Capital, says he didn’t invite Pakistani artists as he feared backlash. Muzaffar Ali showed his directorial prowess with the iconic Rekha-starrer film Umrao Jaan (1981). The filmmaker wears many hats: he’s a poet, artist, fashion designer, music lover and he also curates a popular music festival, Jahan-e-Khusrau, World Sufi Music Festival, which will be held after a gap of two years in the Capital. “It’s the people who have brought it back. I obviously wanted to do it but things weren’t easy. We were not getting the right support. But then some people said we’ll put the money, it seemed really encouraging,” says Ali, who calls the event a people’s festival and believes that Sufism is a common thread between India and Pakistan. And the whole Bollywood trap is very confusing. We would need big stars and distortion of history to make it commercial. You cannot distort history! I can’t afford to p...