Ali Zafar plays Pakistani in a Bollywood flick

A general trend seems to be developing when it concerns musicians crossing over and dipping their toes into acting in films. Shoaib Mansoor made a tele film called Dhundlay Raastey in 1988 which was based on and starred the Vital Signs’ band members. Salman Ahmed from Junoon starred as a lead in the PTV drama Aahat opposite Sania Saeed in the early ’90s while Ahmed Jehanzeb launched his acting career on television with the drama Laila Majnoon in 2002.
Shoaib’s preference for musicians was reflected in Khuda Kay Liye and saw Fawad Khan from EP play Sarmad. This came after reports of first Junaid Jamshed and then Ali Zafar backing out of the role. Recently, Shoaib Mansoor has picked Atif Aslam to act in his next film. Work on it is already underway and according to reports, Iman Ali from KKL will also be featured in it.
Joining the band of musicians-turned-actors, Ali Zafar recently came back from a trip across the Wagah border announcing his plans of acting in a Bollywood flick. Pakistan’s Prince of Pop is slated to be the main lead in a film called Tere bin Ladin and he plays the role of a Pakistani journalist, Ali Hasan, with dreams of moving abroad and working as a news reporter for one of America’s largest news channels. Blinded by ambition and seeking a short cut, he concocts and presents a fake video of the Taliban leader Osama bin Laden. What happens next is anyone’s guess.
This is the first time a Pakistani musician has gotten the lead role in an Indian film. The shooting of the film was completed last year and is slated for a release sometime in July 2010. Previously, Ali had been offered Bollywood acting projects which he had turned down, “I chose to do Tere bin Ladin because the script sounded intelligent and fun, out-of-the-box and over-the-top. Also the story revolves around Pakistan and a Pakistani, something that people over here could relate to and enjoy on a whole new level. It was fun to see our culture recreated in Mumbai on the sets of the film.
“I wanted my first film to be something more than a chick flick and also challenging for me as an actor. I hope this film would serve as something larger than just sheer entertainment,” he added. If Ali Zafar acting the role of a gangster in his music video of Aap Jaisa Hai Jawan is anything to go by then we can be confident that his talent spills over quite effectively into the acting realm as well.