Sanam Saeed did not go to Cannes to promote a film. She did not go for a brand deal. She went for Pakistan, and she came back with receipts.
Fresh off her much-talked-about Cannes debut, the Zindagi Gulzar Hai actress represented Pakistan alongside designer Hussain Rehar, becoming one of the very few Pakistani artists to make a mark at the prestigious festival. And she almost did not make it at all. “The first time I couldn’t go because of a brand contract, the second time I was shooting in the UK, and this time my child wasn’t even one year old — but I knew I had to go,” she revealed.
On the red carpet, Sanam skipped Western fashion entirely and walked in a handcrafted white and silver halter-neck outfit that blended South Asian aesthetics with global glamour, featuring intricate mukesh, zardozi, and mirror work, a look that took 50 artisans over 2,300 hours to create.
But the real talking point came after she returned home. Sanam spoke out against Pakistani artists being lumped under the vague “South Asian” umbrella. “We went quietly, did what we had to do, and it blew up on its own,” she said, stressing that Pakistani artists deserve their own distinct identity on the global stage.
She made her stance clear, saying she walked the red carpet “for the women of Pakistan, for the ones who came before us, for the ones who are yet to come and for the ones who are never seen behind the scenes.”
“Pakistan needs people who can build the bridge between the work happening at home and the global stage,” she added. “There has always been space for us internationally. The question is who helps us get there.”
Cannes heard her. So did the internet.
