Veteran actor Shaan Shahid, in Karachi to promote his upcoming film Psycho, said that artists who have no hesitation working in India draw the line when it comes to their own country.
“People don’t see borders when it comes to India, but they see borders between Lahore and Karachi. If India invited them, suddenly those borders would disappear. That’s unfortunate,” he stated.
Responding to a question about his decade-long absence from Karachi, Shaan said that the city never reached out to him. “I don’t live in Karachi, I live in Lahore. If Karachi had needed me during these ten years, they would have called me. They didn’t call, so I didn’t come,” he said, adding that he had never refused to work in Karachi.
He pointed to what he described as a culture of comfort among actors. “Every person likes staying in their comfort zone. A true actor is someone who challenges themselves,” he observed, adding that he had spent his career learning from seniors.
“Maybe today people feel ashamed to learn from others. They learn from AI but not from human beings”.
“Cinemas remain open all twelve months, but filmmakers come only for Eid. Half my career’s films released on Eid, but the rest released independently throughout the year. That’s how the cinema industry revives,” he pointed out.
He noted that audiences were now consuming content from Netflix, YouTube and Indian platforms and when local films and dramas offered little variety, viewers tuned out. “Turn on any TV channel and the dramas feel similar; watch films and they also feel repetitive,” he remarked.
Shaan also touched on his return to the screen after a self-imposed break. “I had decided to relax after doing around 760 films. But then I felt my creative energy returning and decided to work again,” he said.
Psycho, a psychological thriller exploring the boundary between perception and reality, is set to release on Eid ul Adha. The film stars Shaan Shahid alongside Sonya Hussayn, Meera and Jawed Sheikh.
