Where there is Yasir Hussain, there is controversy. There is something about his choice of words or his tone that will always get him into trouble. From making a joke at his Haniya Amir’s acne to making a demeaning comment about Mahira Khan’s acting talent, Yasir knows how to remain in the limelight for all the wrong reasons.
Ever since, Dirillis Ertugrul, a Turkish TV show, has taken the Pakistani audience by storm, actors have had varying opinions about it. Some love the idea of drawing inspiration from foreign content while others felt like it was best to support your own content first. And we respect all opinions as long as they were delivered respectfully. Yasir Hussain was not in favour of PTV showing Dirillis Ertugrul and he took to instagram to say that landa bazaars and Turkish dramas will be the end of our local industry. He explained that Turkish dramas were like a pre-loved item because they had already been used elsewhere. He claimed that not only does it limit the opportunities available to local artists but is also unfair as we pay taxes to our state television and therefore, the state should invest in their local artists. While his concerns may be valid, it was his choice of words that made his comment sound bitter and resentful.
Soon after, the leading lady of the show Esra Bilgic was chosen as a brand ambassador for Jazz, Hussain once again questioned the choices being made by Pakistani brands and named quite a few talented ladies from our local industry and asked if none of them were worthy of being a brand ambassador. Many came out in Yasir’s support here but a few stars wanted to show their support to foriegn talent just how we expect our stars to be internationally recognised.
This isn’t all, Hussain has once again managed to make news with his bold and controversial statements. Recently, he shared a picture of two Pakistani men who share immaculate resemblance with the characters of the TV show. Hussain commented that these people will not be celebrated as we always prefer “international garbage”.
Hussains’s comment was deemed extremely rude and insulting to the international stars. Yasir received a lot of criticism over this but when DivaMagazine Pakistan decided to share about this, VJ Anoushey Ashraf couldn’t help but call out to Yasir. She gave Yasir a “gentle” reminder that it was okay to disagree respectfully and that no one was “kachra”.
Yasir tried clarifying his stance by saying that it was general comment and he did not mean to attack the show but once again, Yasir managed to make a personal attack at Anoushey by saying that she herself has played international music on her show throughout her career as a VJ so she might not understand why promoting our local industry is so important to him.
Anoushey was obviously offended at Yasir questioning her love and commitment to Pakistan. She said that one does not have to be rude or disrespectful to others to show their love for their country. She also claimed that Yasir was confused and just like we take pride in our friends from other countries admiring our local brands, we should have the heart to do the same for others. Yasir is not one to back off and YET AGAIN managed to throw shade at Anoushey and said that she called out to him publicly to gain fame, to which Anoushey responded that Yasir must reflect on his choice of words and we couldn’t agree more!
Anoushey maintained her poise and gave educated arguments while Yasir seemed to not care how his words can be hurtful. All we can say is that Yasir must learn to disagree respectfully without making
