Reham Khan slams ‘Cake’ as Oscar entry
Debutant director Asim Abbasi’s acclaimed film Cake has been selected by Pakistan’s Oscar Selection Committee for consideration in the Best Foreign Language Film category at the 91st Academy Awards scheduled to take place in LA on February 24, 2019.
The film raised the bar for filmmaking in terms of its unconventional subject matter.
However, as soon as the announcement came, it was snubbed by Reham Khan, the former wife of cricketer-turned-Pakistan prime minister Imran Khan. The controversial author found a connection between Cake’s nomination and its producer Zulfikar Bokhari’s appointment as special assistant to Khan on overseas Pakistani’s affairs.
Her tweet — “Who says you can’t have your ‘cake’ & eat it too? Zulfi Bokhari friend of the PM now gets his film selected to be sent in as Pakistan’s entry to the Oscar’s too” — not only offended those who loved the film, it also forced an otherwise reticent writer-director Abbasi to respond: “Erm. I understand that our storytelling (unlike her storytelling) lacked nautanki [drama] and masala but still... what a strange insinuation discounting our hard work and committee’s decision making.”
The said committee is chaired by two-time Oscar and Emmy-winning documentary filmmaker Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy. Its members include British-Pakistani novelist Kamila Shamsi, veteran TV actress and director Sahira Kazmi; and writer H M Naqvi, among others.