Pakistan as we all know lifted the ban on Bollywood movies but, recently the censor board rejected the Bollywood movie Begum Jaan. The movie features Vidya Balan and is set to release on 14th April in India. The producer of them film Mahesh Bhatt is really upset about the decision by censor board of not releasing the movie in Pakistan.
He stated, “I was told by my distributor that Pakistan, as a policy, does not permit the import of films dealing with the issue of Partition. I requested the key officer of the Pakistan censor board to at least view the film and then take a decision. I was assured they would look into the matter.”
He further said, “Sadly, I have not heard from them since. My distributor informs me that his office has been intimated that Begum Jaan won’t be imported into Pakistan.”
“I did not look at Pakistan just as a market to sell my wares. Yes, when Begum Jaan was not viewed by their Censor Board, I was ridiculed by some of my close associates. That did hurt.”
On the other hand, the director of the movie Srijit Mukherji said, “It is the rule of someone’s land, which must be respected. Unfortunately, the common thread binding these two nations is the history and Partition are the integral tragedy connecting us. All the hatred can be traced back to it. Understanding and analyzing it from a human view would help but it’s a pity they don’t want to. They are touchy and sensitive about this issue.”
