Fawad Khan has been in the news for quite a long time now. He’s a Pakistani artist in India, whose upcoming Bollywood movie “Ae Dil Hai Mushkil” is in jeopardy.
The film was about to release near Diwali. Not only Fawad, but all Pakistani artists in India have been asked to leave the country until everything gets resolved across the border.
In a fresh jolt to his latest and upcoming film- “Ae Dil Hai Mushkil”, COEAI (Cinema Owners and Exhibitors Association of India) has already taken an initiative after undergoing a series of meetings and discussions. They’ve decided not to showcase the screening of the film.
Not only this, the decision has also been taken to suspend all such films projecting ‘Pakistani faces’.
If you remember the agitation done by MNS (Maharashtra Navnirman Sena) activists in the past, they demanded a complete ban on all artists working in the entertainment industry from across the border, especially in the wake of Uri attacks.
Now, the decision is going to impact the screening of “Ae Dil Hai Mushkil” in not less than 400 single screen theaters across the entire Gujrat, Maharashtra along with some parts of Goa and Karnataka.
If all the decisions are implemented as per the recommendations, it would directly attract a loss of almost 25% of revenue that would have been otherwise generated.
Well, there is another side of it as well! With so much hurdles coming in with the release of such films, it would be giving benefits to others whose release is also almost at the same time.
For example, if we discuss Ajay Devgan’s film “Shivaay”, then it’s more of a single screen film the decision would benefit his film both in terms of business and screen.
Since Ae dil.. is already denied its release, Ajay Devgan will get benefit in terms of screening all 4 shows. The president of COEAI, ‘Nitin Datar’ says that we have not yet banned films at all but have only suspended them as they showcase Pakistani artist in India.
He further quoted about rethinking their decision once the relationship across the border is normal. They said it’s a small contribution from our side in support of our nation.
Amid all this, it’s still not clear about what the owners of multiplexes do. It’s still a question mark if they are going to follow the suit. When asked about the details, some multiplex owners denied to comment as they still have not received any kind of notifications in support of the suspension of film(s).
However, Mukesh Bhatt, who is the film and television production guild of the country, says, it’s nothing more than the fear among single screen multiplex owners as they think it would prove them more costly amid ongoing vandalism.
He further provoked appealing to the government in the near future to provide a protection to the Pakistani artist in India. He thinks the government should protect the film makers otherwise the country would become full of anarchists.
He also thinks banning or suspending films of the Pakistani artist in India (like Fawad Khan) would only result in loss. This would also result in loss of interest among foreign clients to invest in India.
Meanwhile, CBFC (Central Board of Film Certification) has cleared the film with a much needed U/A certification. The chief of board says that once the process of certification for the film is done, no organisation can put any kind of ban to the film.
He thinks it’s not wise to ban or suspend those films that have done all the hard work. Also read the previous story about the film, setback for Ae Dil Hai Mushkil.
