Once Scorned, How Peshawaris Ruled Bollywood
Sameer Arshad Khatlani Follow on Facebook W hen Haider Qadir, the owner of a haveli Bollywood legend Prithviraj Kapoor’s father built in 1920 in Pakistan’s Peshawar, tried to demolish it, his neighbours intervened and had him arrested in January 2016. Qadir was granted bail a day later along with three other accused after cooling his heels overnight in prison. The four faced trial under antiquity law for damaging the three-storey mansion with arched windows and protruding balconies. Pakistan's provincial Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government in 2011 declared the haveli a heritage site along with that of another Peshawar-born actor Dilip Kumar’s ancestral house in Peshawar's Dhakki locality. The move recognised the emotional connect Peshawar has with several Bollywood legends, who were either born or have roots in the city. ALSO READ: Why Sufism Needs To Return To Its Essence Of Selfless Service Peshawar has been known as a cultural powerhouse and nursery for Bollywood. Perhaps no othe