Pakistan has banned Bollywood movie, Raees, starring Pakistani actress Mahira Khan, distributor in Pakistan say.
Recently released Bollywood movie ‘Raees’ starring Indian megastar Shah Rukh Khan and Pakistani actor Mahira Khan, that was due to air in Pakistan on Feb. 2 has been banned in the country.
Pakistan has banned cinemas nationwide from screening an Indian blockbuster movie starring a famous Pakistani actress Mahira Khan and megastar Shah Rukh Khan.
The movie “Raees” has been highly anticipated in Pakistan, a nation of 190 million people where Bollywood’s elaborate song-and-dance sequences are wildly popular.
Pakistan’s film board reportedly has been banned for portraying Muslims as ‘criminals and terrorists’.
Fans of Bollywood movies in Pakistan will not be able to watch “Raees” in nationwide cinemas, the most attentive character of the actress Mahira Khan, Pakistani emerged star making her first appearance in a major Indian production.
On Tuesday, the chairman of the Pakistan’s film censors said the country’s cinemas would not be allowed to screen the movie. “Yes, the censor certificate has not been issued to the film Raees for having inappropriate content,” said Mubashir Husain.
He did not reveal why the film had been banned but referred to media reports about the plot of the film in which Khan plays a Muslim smuggler who wins election from jail.
Cinemas are vulnerable to regular bouts of turbulence in the fraught relationship between India and Pakistan, two nuclear-armed rivals that have fought four conflicts since independence in 1947.
Pakistani cinemas stopped screening Indian films for 11 weeks from last September, and government curbs still prevent cable providers from broadcasting Indian television channels.
Muhammad Waseh, a student and film fan in Islamabad, said he was “outraged and upset” by the decision not to allow Raees to be screened in Pakistan.
“There is nothing wrong with the movie but our government is retaliating against Indian for banning our actors from performing inIndia,” he said.