While everyone is anticipating Mahira Khan’s debut at the Cannes Film Festival 2018, it has been largely misreported that she will be the first Pakistani actress to attend the prestigious festival. While Adnan Siddiqui was the first Pakistani actor to attend Cannes in 2008 for his Hollywood film ‘The Mighty Heart’, Armeena Khan was the first Pakistani actress to attend in 2013.
Mahira Khan also recently acknowledged this fact at the L’Oréal press conference held earlier this week, “I recently saw that my co-star Armeena also attended Cannes a few years ago,” Mahira mentioned.
Armeena Khan at the Cannes Film Festival 2013
“I was there with a short film, I wasn’t representing any brand, as my producers took me,” Armeena told us when asked about her experience at Cannes. “It was an amazing feeling to be there. I only realised later that I was the first actress of Pakistani origin to do so!”
Does Armeena find it unfair that Mahira Khan’s upcoming appearance is already getting more hype than hers?
“Of course not, I think it’s great. Everyone’s trajectory is different and I was just starting out back then,” the actress stated. “Mahira is much loved and revered in the industry and has been around a long time before me so naturally the coverage will be more. I’m very proud that Pakistan is getting proper representation. I just learnt that a short film by a Pakistani filmmaker, Tahira Tahir, is going to be screened at the festival and that is the kind of representation we need, and the stories that need to be told. Like it was once pointed out earlier, us stars tend to steal the limelight at such affairs.” Armeena opined.