PAKISTANI SINGER-ACTOR Ali Zafar, who has made it big with his debut film Tere Bin Laden, was kidnapped in his hometown of Lahore two years ago by persons who might have been members of the militant groups that the film takes a dig at. Zafar, who had taken his wife Aisha (then his fiancée) for dinner, was kidnapped at gunpoint and released only after his family agreed to part with Rs 2.5 million.
The incident went largely unnoticed at the time because Zafar chose not to speak to the media about it. The kidnapper made Zafar drive around Lahore for three hours till the money was arranged and delivered. Zafar, who not only drove but persuaded his family on the phone to pay the ransom, had to get out of his car at Chauburji in Lahore and allow the kidnapper to drive away with the money. He later contacted the police, which registered a complaint and found his car abandoned near the Data Darbar shrine.
In a TV interview months later, Zafar said the kidnapper told him that he would not harm his girlfriend. “Hamare ghar mein bhi maan-behnen hain (Even we have mother and sister at home),” the kidnapper told him.
Zafar is currently in the news on both sides of the border. While India’s stingiest critics have commended his performance, Pakistanis have been deprived of seeing his film following a ban by the country’s censor board.