Actor Faysal Quraishi addressed claims about his show Khaie’s portrayal of the Pashtun community in a recent interview with Geo Digital, trying to explain — not very well — to audiences why the story is not stereotyping Pashtun people. Bear in mind, his character is called Chanar Khan.
During the interview, he stated: “I received a lot of messages [from Pashtun people] who told me they moved because of rivalries and elders’ enmities”. He emphasised again that he got “many” messages from people who could “connect” with the story Khaie was telling.
“There is merely an intonation. No one is saying that they are Pashtun,” he claimed. Watching one episode of the show will elucidate how heavy the “intonation” is — it is the most stereotypical Pashtun accent with words from Pashto sprinkled in. How are audiences supposed to assume that the drama is not about Pashtun people when common Pashto words like “maran” [brother] are repeatedly used?