About the Book: Enter Stage Left is the second volume of Salima Hashmi’s memoir, chronicling her return to Pakistan in the 1970s and her influential role in shaping the country’s cultural and artistic landscape. Alongside her pioneering work in art education at the National College of Arts, Salima co-created groundbreaking television programs like Akkar Bakkar, Such Gup, and Taal Matol, which redefined Pakistani media and earned international acclaim. As she and her husband Shoaib Hashmi raised a family, they navigated a dynamic era of creativity, later overshadowed by General Zia-ul-Haq’s regime, censorship, and her father Faiz Ahmed Faiz’s exile. This memoir reflects on decades of political upheaval, artistic innovation, and personal resilience. A powerful narrative blending personal history with national transformation, it’s essential reading for those interested in Pakistani culture, media, and politics.
