SAHIWAL, Pakistan, In a bustling market in Pakistan’s eastern Punjab province, a food vendor who locals say bears an uncanny resemblance to US President-elect Donald Trump gets more business — and attention — than others.

“We feel as if Trump has come here to sell kheer (pudding),” said Mohammad Yaseen, a local resident who prefers to buy the dessert from Saleem Bagga, the look-alike vendor who also sings to draw customers.

“When he sings to sell kheer, we come down to him,” Yaseen said.

Bagga, 53, pushes his colorful wooden cart along the road delivering the milky pudding, a black jacket over his beige shalwar kameez tunic to keep out the winter cold.

A crowd gathers as Bagga, who sports a distinctive blond quiff because of his albinism, sings the lyrics to a Punjabi song: “Now you come down to me my love, don’t delay, my eyes are tired of waiting.”

Local resident Imran Ashraf takes a selfie with Bagga. “His kheer is really delicious ... we talk to him and we take selfies with him and we tell our friends that we have taken these pictures with Trump,” Ashraf said.

Bagga is unfazed by the stream of attention and cameras that follow him throughout the market and even in his home neighborhood in the district of Sahiwal.

“My face resembles Donald Trump, that is why people take selfies with me...I feel very good,” he said, before extending an invitation.

“Donald Trump sahib (sir), you have won the election, now visit here and eat my kheer, you will really enjoy it,” he said.

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s first Sindhi-language film in nearly three decades, “Indus Echoes” or “Sindhu Ji Goonj” will have its international premiere next week at the Jaipur International Film Festival (JIFF) on Jan. 21. 

The film is directed and produced by Pakistani journalist-turned-filmmaker, Rahul Aijaz, who told Arab News in August last year that the Indus River served as inspiration for the film. The river fascinated Aijaz for a long time as it served as a “major symbol” of the Sindhi culture, he said. 

According to its synopsis, the film explores the relationship between humans and the Indus River through five stories set on, across and around the Indus. The film is a collaboration between Pakistan’s Film N’ Chips Media Productions,

Shaam Films and South Korea’s Big Meta Films. It stars Sindhi-speaking actors, Vajdaan Shah and Ansaar Mahar, in addition to Samina Seher in key roles. Renowned actor Shamoon Abbasi serves as executive producer of the film. 

“GOOD NEWS! Our Sindhi language feature film “Sindhu ji Goonj” (Indus Echoes) has been selected for the Jaipur International Film Festival in India,” Aijaz wrote on his Facebook profile on Dec. 21. “We will be having the international premiere in Jaipur next month.”

While JIFF is scheduled to kick off on Jan. 17, the Sindhi feature film will be screened at the Rajasthan Adult Education Association in Jaipur on Jan. 21. 

Pakistan reportedly released its first-ever Sindhi film, ‘Umar Marvi,’ in 1956, while the country saw the release of its last Sindhi film, ‘Himmat,’ in 1997. Since then, only a few Sindhi telefilms and short films have been produced, but no

Sindhi feature film, which averages between 75 and 210 minutes, was made in the South Asian country.

In 2020, Aijaz also produced a short Sindhi-language film called, ‘A Train Crosses the Desert,’ which was screened in four countries, including at JIFF (2021) in India and the South Asian International Film Festival (2020) in the US.