The stars of upcoming film Quaid-e-Azam Zindabad, Fahad Mustafa and Mahira Khan, have been on a journey to promote their new film but during a recent interview, Mustafa had people talking for all the wrong reasons.
He spoke about his daughter Fatima being an ARMY – one of the unfailingly loyal fans of K-pop super group BTS – and how he doesn’t really like it very much. That didn’t go down well online.
On Friday, the stars appeared on Gup Shup with Fuchsia where they talked about the film and their experience overall. While their acting will be put to test soon in cinemas on Eid, Mustafa revealed that his daughter, Fatima, “doesn’t really care anymore because she’s 11 now” but his son is currently trying things out around Mustafa to get his attention. “He tries a lot and sometimes over-loves because I’m close to my daughter and now him. So regardless, he follows me without a purpose. Fatima, she’s a BTS fan so she doesn’t care.”
Upon being asked if he has ever heard the K-pop sensation’s music, Mustafa replied with a straight up “no, hell no” to which the host asked why. He said it’s his “choice”. The host said that if his daughter is listening to BTS, then so should he, to which the Load Wedding actor said he doesn’t even know his daughter’s favourite song by the band. “I called them Behind The Scenes band and she responded with ‘no papa!’ It’s…I don’t know Bangtan So tol something, I don’t know. She speaks Korean, she doesn’t speak Sindhi, what is wrong with these people?”
He wants her to speak her mother tongue instead. Khan added to the conversation and said that it’s a “big thing”, especially K-dramas, which she hasn’t seen.
Their remarks irked many fans of the band who took to Twitter on a mission to call Mustafa out. One user suggested that the actor must research about K-pop and why “everyone is so in love with their content”.
Another said he should “at least respect” his daughter and her choices. “Making her feel guilty and inferior in front of the whole media and making fun of her choices is just so ridiculous,” they wrote.
Another wrote that Mustafa was “the last” person they imagined BTS fans would “cancel”.
For one user, it boiled down to respect. “Who are you to disrespect other languages and every individual has the right to whom they like or dislike,” they wrote.
Another availed the opportunity and shared a meme.
One user took a dig at the actor for making shows about false accusations instead of thinking what about Korean pop culture is so appealing and why it attracted his child to the extent that she’s learning a new language.
Some users called him “ignorant”.
Others were praying for him.
BTS has made quite the name for itself with hit singles such as ‘Butter’, ‘Permission to Dance’, ‘Boy with Luv’ and many more. The group recently announced that they are taking a break to focus on their solo careers.
Prior to their announcement, the seven-member group released their new album Proof, an anthology album featuring 45 songs. According to Billboard, their album has scored the No. 1 spot at Billboard 200 chart.