LAHORE/COPENHAGEN- The highly anticipated Indiana Sharif and the Kingdom of the Thick Skull will hit theatres all over Pakistan on September 17.
The movie stars acclaimed actor, director, producer, archaeologist, transportation engineer, among other professions, Shehbaz Sharif, and is the local spinoff of the Indiana Jones franchise.
“Indian Jones has always been my inspiration since childhood. My friends used to call me Indiana Sharif,” Shehbaz Sharif told The Dependent highlighting how the idea for the film venture came into being.
The banner of the movie, believed to be the latest in a series of patriotic ventures produced in Pakistan, also includes Quaid-e-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah.
“The reason we could not put Indiana Jones’ photo on the promotional banners is I don’t want more people to mimic him,” he added. “There are only so many pseudo Indianas that a state can hold.”
The star actor Shehbaz further added that there are also similarity between him and Muhammad Ali Jinnah.
“He made Pakistan from scratch and I’m doing the same with the Islamic Republic of Lahore,” he said.
The acclaimed archaeologist added that it has always been his dream to follow Indiana Jones.
“He liked to dig, I like to dig. He liked see what is under the earth, so do I. He liked to see underground treasures, I like to build them above the
ground. He loved heritages and I have vowed to make new heritage,” he further explained.
Highlighting further resemblance, Sharif said Indiana Jones too used to whip people up.
“I take same work from my finger to suspend people,” he said.
Shahbaz also confessed that there is another inspiration behind his latest look.
“Kate Winslet from Titanic,” he began. “In the very beginning of the movie when she gets down from the car, with camera moving from her hat to the face, then she looked up to the ship…” he added.
However, Sharif was quick to urge viewers to not mix Indiana with Indian.
“There is absolutely nothing Indian about me and my family,” he stressed. “Indiana Sharif and the Kingdom of the Thick Skull will further clarify that.”
