Upon release, Madras Cafe received acclaim from the critics, and the performances of the lead actors were praised. Unlike her debut film, Fakhri dubbed her own dialogues and was approached for the film because Sircar wanted "a girl who looked Indian but had an accent". Her portrayal was of a British war correspondent in Sri Lanka, and was inspired by many war correspondents, including Anita Pratap. Her next release was opposite John Abraham in the Shoojit Sircar's political thriller Madras Cafe (2013), a drama set during the time of the Indian intervention in the Sri Lankan civil war and the assassination of former Indian prime minister Rajiv Gandhi. Fakhri's performance in the film earned her several Best Female Debut nominations at various award ceremonies, including a Filmfare nomination. With a gross revenue of ₹1.07 billion (US$14 million), Rockstar was one of the top-grossing Hindi films of the year. Raja Sen of Rediff noted that she is an "exotically ravishing heroine, one so pretty we forgive her occasionally stilted diction", while Nikhat Kazmi praised her performance and said that Fakhri "stands tall as the delectable Heer who sizzles on screen with her unconventional ways". Film critic Taran Adarsh wrote: "Nargis is a stunner as far as looks are concerned, but isn't persuasive in poignant moments", however, he praised her on-screen chemistry with co-star Ranbir Kapoor. The film received overwhelming responses from critics, but their opinions toward her were mixed, though she was praised for her looks. Due to her poor command in Hindi, Fakhri's voice was dubbed over by the voice artist Mona Ghosh Shetty. Rockstar was the first film in India to show a Kashmiri Pandit wedding, and saw Fakhri as a free-spirited rich brat, hailing from the Kashmiri Pandit background. The film follows the journey of an aspiring musician from a humble background to international stardom after the death of his passionate lover. Acting career Career beginnings and breakthrough (2011–2015) įakhri made her acting debut with a female lead role in Imtiaz Ali's musical romantic drama Rockstar in 2011. Fakhri later said that she agreed to work in India so that she could "relate to culture" and get "close to roots ", because India and Pakistan share similar cultures. He selected her for a role in the Hindi romantic drama Rockstar. Her appearance in the Kingfisher Calendar attracted the attention of Indian filmmaker Imtiaz Ali. Fakhri's fame increased when she appeared in a popular Indian print campaign for the 2009 Kingfisher Calendar. She subsequently modeled professionally in America, working for freelance agencies, and appearing regularly at fashion shows.
Although Fakhri was selected for the first two challenges of both the cycles, she failed to make up to the third challenge for the top twelve contestants. In her later years, she appeared as a contestant on the second and third cycle of America's Next Top Model (2004). įakhri started her career as a model at the age of 16. Because of her mixed Pakistani-Czech ethnicity and American nationality, Fakhri describes herself a "global citizen". Fakhri's parents divorced when she was six, and her father died a few years later. Her father is Pakistani, and her mother is Czech. 2.1 Career beginnings and breakthrough (2011–2015)įakhri was born on October 20, 1979, in Queens, New York City, to Mohammed Fakhri, and Marie Fakhri, a former police officer.We also assure you that henceforth we will not be releasing or promoting work by any Pakistani artists. Meanwhile, we are removing the said song from our YouTube channel. We assure you that henceforth we will neither release, nor promote the song on any platform of T-Series. They further apologize for their mistake vowing that they would neither release nor promote song sung by any Pakistani singer and also announce its removal from their channel saying, “We condemn our mistake and apologize for the same. He was unaware of his action and erred while putting up the song.” In the statement released by T-Series, they accepted that the mistake was made by them saying, “It has been brought to our notice that the said song has been sung by Atif Aslam and this song was put up on the YouTube channel of T-Series by one of our employees from the promotion team.
Later All Indian Cine Workers Association (AICWA) wrote an open letter to Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi demanding a ban on Pakistani artists which was approved by the Indian government. The ban started after Pakistan’s decision of banning Indian films from being screened in the country in solidarity with the Kashmiri people. The song was removed by T-Series in accordance with the implementation of the decision made by All Indian Cine Workers Association (AICWA) to ban Pakistan artists from working in India.