Days after Indian Motion Picture Producers' Association (IMPPA) imposed a ban on Pakistani artistes, Censor board chief Pahlaj Nihalani has questioned their authority to pass such a resolution.
Nihalani stated since none of the members of IMPPA has been working with any Pakistani artistes in the recent past, they aren’t the one to ask for the banning of actors.
IMPPA had passed a resolution prohibiting the Pakistani artistes from working in India till the situation gets back to normal.
However, Phlaj Nihalani referred to this ban as totally irrelevant saying artistes should not be targeted amidst the Indo-Pak hostility.
“To give a visa to any Pakistani is the sole decision of the government, and we as producers and actors, are saying they are not terrorists and that art and culture should never come in between," Nihalani said.
The CBFC chief also came out in support of Karan Johar and Shah Rukh Khan and said that it is unjustified to ban Pakistani actors at this point of time, since they had signed them when India shared comparatively good terms with Pakistan.
He urged that their movie ‘Ae Dil Hai Mushkil’ and ‘Raees’ should be allowed to release, as a halt in their release will not just cause a loss to the producers but the entire Indian cinema will have to suffer a huge loss.
"These artistes who have worked in these films should not be asked to leave. They have every right to work here," he added.
Recently, superstar Salman Khan also echoed same words about the ban on Pakistani artistes saying they should not be treated like terrorists.
Much before IMPPA’s ban, Raj Thacheray’s political party Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) too had threatened KJo and SRK to stall the releases of their movies since they feature Pakistani artists.
While ‘Ae Dil Hai Mushkil’ features Fawad Khan in a key role, ‘Raees’ would mark the debut of Mahira Khan in Bollywood.
Though, the entire nation has been divided in two segments over this issue, actor Fawad Khan has left the India for the time being and is unlikely to participate in the promotions of ADHM.
