Mumbai: After Raj Thackeray led Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) gave a 48 hours ultimatum to Pakistani actors to go back to their country and announced that films with Pakistani actors in it will not be released in India , Pakistani distributors have now decided against releasing ‘M S Dhoni: The Untold Story’ because of the increasing tension between both the nations.
Pakistan, which happens to be the third largest overseas market for Bollywood movies, will not release the much-anticipated biopic based on the life of India’s One Day International (ODI) captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni.
IMGC Global Entertainment, a Pakistan-based distribution company, has reportedly made up its mind not to release the film in Pakistan. Its chairman was quoted as saying in the report, “Amid current tension between the two countries, we have decided not to release the film.”
MNS had ordered all the Pakistani actors to leave India, including Fawad Khan, which made the ‘Ae Dil Hai Mushkil’ star unavailable for promotions. MNS’s announcement to not release films with Pakistani actors in it has left the fate of movies like ‘Ae Dil Hai Mushkil’ and ‘Raees’ hanging. While actor Fawad Khan plays a pivotal role in ‘Ae Dil Hai Mushkil’, Shah Rukh Khan’s ‘Raees’ is supposed to be Pakistani star Mahira Khan’s entry to the world of Bollywood.
In the wake of Uri attacks, which saw 18 Indian soldiers losing their lives to gruesome violence, both India and Pakistan, who have always been at loggerheads over multiple issues, have unfortunately turned to banning movies in order to express their mutual hatred.
Azhar Saddique, a Pakistan-based lawyer has filed a petition in Lahore High Court on September 23 seeking a ban on release of Indian films in Pakistan as it will hurt sentiments of the people in Pakistan and Kashmir.
