Acclaimed Pakistani TV and film actress Mehwish Hayat has lauded British-Pakistani actor Rizwan Ahmed, who is better known as Riz Ahmed, for his initiative towards a better portrayal of Muslims in Hollywood films.
The Tamgha-e-Imtiaz recipient starlet often speaks about the issues Muslims have been facing all over the world. Her tweets also reflects her take over the situations including, the atrocities Muslims have been facing in Kashmir and Palestine.
Taking to her Twitter handle, the Load Wedding actress shared clips from a 2019 Oslo conference, where she talked about how Bollywood shows Muslims as villains in most films.
Sharing the video clips, the actress posted a thread saying, “The issue of misrepresentation of Muslims and how it is fuelling Islamophobia is a poignant one for me. So glad to see @rizwanahmed taking a positive action, a real watershed moment, time for our industry to step up and also counter the way that we are shown in Hollywood and Bollywood.”
Hayat has called for the industry to counter the way Muslims are depicted in Hollywood and Bollywood.
“We need films ‘about’ and not just ‘for’ Pakistan. Something I advocated in Oslo in 2019.”
The Reluctant Fundamentalist actor received praise from fans and celebrities after announcing last week a grant for Muslim filmmakers. The $25,000 fellowships are aimed at improving Muslim representation in Hollywood.
