Pakistanis terrified of terrorism too, says Kalki Koechlin

Pakistanis are as terrified of terrorism as anyone else in the world, remarked Bollywood actress Kalki Koechlin.

The Dev.D star was speaking about her experience of shooting a documentary in Pakistan at the India Today Conclave 2017, which is being held in Grand Hyatt in Mumbai.

Speaking about the documentary Azmaish, directed by Pakistani filmmaker Sabiha Sumar, she said that she took the project because of her neutrality on the Pakistan-India issue.

“From my point of view, I accepted the project out of curiosity. I had never been to Pakistan and I only knew India and Pakistan in terms of conflict. I wanted to see another aspect, perhaps, a more human aspect,” Indian media reported her saying.

Speaking about her experience in Pakistan, Koechlin said, “A lot of things surprised me. One thing that I loved was their curiosity because there’s very little outside influence in Pakistan vis-a-vis India. The openness with which they met me was very surprising.”

She remarked that the documentary focuses on the everyday struggles of the people on both sides of the border

Cricket and Bollywood are the two things that unite India and Pakistan, she said. “Bollywood is huge in Pakistan. People recognised me because of Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani. Even with India, a lot of us are unified because of movies. People of North-East India speak Hindi because of Bollywood.”