Pakistan star Mahira Khan invites one and all to Expo 2020 Dubai

The delight on Mahira Khan’s face as she looked at the Pakistan pavilion at Expo 2020 Dubai was palpable. “You hear about it,” she says, her large brown eyes twinkling in the sunlight, “and you see it in pictures. But you never truly get how beautiful it is until you see it.”

She is currently in Dubai and she’s more than happy to be appointed as the brand ambassador for the Pakistan Pavilion. In a detailed chat with City Times, the Humsafar star was all praise for the pavilion and for Expo 2020 itself. “I’m amazed, I’m so proud. We were just talking about this — how I was appointed as the brand ambassador of the pavilion itself. I’m happy that the Ministry of Commerce has taken an initiative. It starts from taking the initiative. We’re all in positions of power. So when the Ministry says we want to do this, go ahead and do this, we support you — that’s huge. We’ve got all these talented people on board who are being supported by the government back home and by the UAE government as well.”

MULTICULTURALISM, TOURISM, ART

“Those of us who are from Pakistan, from Karachi, we’ve grown up seeing all the multicultural life in Pakistan. But when you see it through these films (screened in the pavilion) — you see cultural, religious diversity, you see how marriages in Punjab may be different from marriages in Hunza or Gilgit. It’s beautiful how they’ve showcased all these elements and the landscape.”

WHAT SHE CONNECTS TO MOST

“I have to be honest, I felt a lot of pride. Everyone connects to different things. I saw this chador of Laal Shahbaz Qalandar — and I thought to myself how much my father would love it. I loved the Billion Trees Project part which was so futuristic and that’s how the future should be. It’s been an amazing experience. I’ve been told that the footfall has been excellent and even now when we were outside, there were lots of people coming in.”

ON BEING AN ACTIVIST

“One image, one video that we post makes a difference because we have that kind of following. You realise that you have this reach where people are clicking on your profile and that’s how your message gets amplified. As far as activism goes, yes, I do speak out about things close to my heart. I stay silent about things which I feel I don’t know enough about. But ‘activists’ are those who are actively working every day for a cause. So I don’t call myself an activist. I do try to use my platform for different causes but ‘activism’ is wholly different ballgame.”

mahwash@khaleejtimes.com