Who Is Mehwish Hayat? Actor Calls Out Bollywood's ‘Deafening Silence’ On Pakistan floods

Mehwish Hayat, a Pakistani actor, has shared her disappointment in Bollywood celebs over their lack of support or care for their fans in Pakistan at a time when the country was facing devastating floods. She has appealed Bollywood to rise about politics and ‘care about their fans in Pakistan’.

Replying to BBC journalist Haroon Rashid’s post about Bollywood stars not acknowledging the country’s floods situation, Hayat shared that he’s made a ‘valid point’. “The silence from the Bollywood fraternity is deafening. ‘Suffering knows no nationality, race or religion’ – no better time for them to show us that they can rise above nationalist politics and care about their fans in Pakistan. We are hurting and a kind word or two would not go amiss,” she posted on her Instagram story.

Who Is Mehwish Hayat?

Born in Karachi to Rukhsar Hayat, a popular television actress during the 1980s, Hayat made her debut with Jawani Phir Nahi Ani in 2015.  Her eldest brother Zeeshan is a singer-composer while her older sister, Afsheen, is a singer as well.

Hayat is known for her roles in films like Actor in Law, Punjab Nahi Jaungi, Load Wedding, and Chhalawa. She has also starred in popular drama series Meray Qatil Meray Dildar and Kami Reh Gayi.

The actor made her interntationl debut with the Ms Marvel, where she played one of the ‘noors’ Aisha, and was paired opposite Fawad Khan. Her last release London Nahi Jaunga with Humayan Saeed, released in July, and had quite a successful run at the box office.

The creator and writer of Ms Marvel Bisha K Ali took a notice of the cause (Pakistan floods) and promised to match up the donation of her followers. Thanking her, Hayat posted an Instagram story writing, “thank you so much for doing this! Really appreciate your gesture, we need all the help we can get. We really need more generous people like you.”

Hayat is the recipient of Lux Style Award and was honoured by the Government of Pakistan with the Tamgha-e-Imtiaz in 2019.

Pakistan is in a state of national emergency with over 1,200 dead, over 12,000 injured and tens of millions displaced. Catastrophic floods resulting from this year’s monsoon rains have washed away everything that came in its way including houses, schools, hospitals, powerhouses and people, reports Dawn.

Suggested Reading: 6.5 lakh Pregnant Women Affected In Flood-Hit Pakistan: UNFPA