Jemima Goldsmith has revealed that truck art, hospitality and Gulab Jamuns are the things she misses the most about Pakistan.
“What struck me were the trucks,” the ex-wife of former Pakistani Prime Minister said during an interview with Express Tribune. The British producer, who has recently branched out into the realm of romantic comedy with ‘What’s Love Got To Do With It’, previously took on documentaries which cover issues such as the use of drones in warfare, and topics surrounding women and children in Pakistan and other nations.
“So, when I came out, I thought a festival was happening,” Ms Goldsmith reminisced “I couldn’t believe that every single lorry would be painted so exquisitely! I kept asking, ‘Where’s the festival? Is there a carnival? What’s going on?’ And I remember people were laughing at me.”
It’s worth mentioning that Jemima and Imran Khan were introduced to each other at a club in London in 1995. They went on to get married in the same year with Jemima converting to Islam and moved to Lahore with husband Imran. Jemima had two sons with Imran – Sulaiman Isa (born 1996) and Kasim (born 1999).
On June 22, 2004, it was announced that the couple had divorced ending the nine-year marriage because it was ‘difficult for Jemima to adapt to the political life of Imran Khan in Pakistan’.
Jemima recollects being told about how this is what a traditional public vehicle looks like in Pakistan. “Every single bus, van and truck is painted like this with pride. Then I became a bit obsessed with truck art. Being so very surprised with the art was one thing still etched in my mind about Pakistan.”
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Jemima says that among the numerous aspects of Pakistani culture she wanted to include in her movie was truck art.
“We were shooting during Covid, and I wanted a truck art rickshaw in one of the scenes,” she said, adding how it became quite a challenge. “I was desperately calling anyone I could think of, I was putting out messages on Twitter if anyone has it, we called Pakistani restaurants, thinking maybe we’d find one there. Well, luckily, we did find it. But it was a task.”
Besides the truck art, Jemima said that “Gulab Jamuns and the hospitality” are the two things she terribly missed about Pakistan.
