Shonali Bose – Indian national award-winning film-maker says she wants to cast Pakistani actor but she couldn’t due to ban to the recent ban on Rahat Fateh Ali Khan imposed by Babul Supriyo.
However, according to her, such things should be stopped.
“Cinema should be free… For instance, Pakistani actors are not allowed to work in Indian films, and this decision is supported by Indian Motion Pictures Producers’ Association. What if I want to make a film with Fawad Khan?”
While the moderator of the panel mentioned that her comment might earn her the title of an “anti-national”, she replied, “That is the problem with our country nowadays.
“I speak of friendship between two countries. I want to make a film with Fawad Khan and nobody will allow me to make the film; producer will not back the film because of the risk and fear that has been created around it.”
The calls for banning Pakistani talent from working in the Indian film industry first surfaced in 2016 when cross-border India-Pakistan tension spilled over into the entertainment world, with some Indian political outfits imposing a ban on Pakistanis and a few Pakistani theatres pulling down Indian movies from their big screens.