I'm not a Karan Johar fan. Honestly, I haven't liked any of his films but when I saw the trailer of Ae Dil Hai Mushkil, for once I was really looking forward to a Dharma film, but of course “others” have decided that I shouldn’t watch the film.
Why? because there is a Pakistani actor in the film and I simply have to follow the bandwagon and show solidarity to the “Indian army” by boycotting this film, that is directed by an Indian filmmaker, who has spent crores shooting the film in different parts of the world, with the best and most expensive talent in Bollywood.
I’m not shocked with groups like the MNS taking such a stand. If they could run campaigns against North Indians in the past, their decision to ban Pakistani artistes doesn’t come as a surprise at all. But, what’s appalling is to see (almost) 1.3 billion people seem to be blindly following the herd.
My question is, why should one filmmaker suffer because everything is not right between India and Pakistan? What was Karan Johar’s role in the Uri attacks? Why is he being targeted? Why is nobody thinking about him or about Ranbir or Anushka or Aishwarya or the studio that is backing the film? All of them are people who have entertained us for years.
And the most important question- is banning an INDIAN film our response to the attacks?
Who is it helping?
It will definitely boost Arnab’s TRPs
It will definitely get Ajay Devgn’s Shivaay some audience
It will definitely make MNS feel more powerful
But, will it end terrorism? Definitely not.
Do you really think the terrorists killing innocent people care if India bans a Pakistani actor or a singer or Pakistani shows?
You can’t cut ties with Pakistan by boycotting a Bollywood film.
Fact check:
1. India and Pakistan weren’t at war (technically we still aren’t) with each other when Karan Johar was filming Ae Dil hai Mushkil with Fawad Khan and 30 other INDIANS in London. This was (almost) a year before Uri attacks.
2. Fawad Khan will not get a profit share, if the film does well at the box office.
3. The only person who will suffer is Karan Johar and the studio that is investing in the film. KJo’s only fault was, that he cast a Pakistani heartthrob, who was once very popular with the Indian ladies. KJo thought Fawad's popularity would work in his favour but it backfired and how!
4. Fawad Khan is a supporting actor goddammit and I bet he won’t have more than 10 scenes in the film.
5. Even if Fawad was the main lead, all Pakistanis don’t support terrorism, but anyway let’s not even get into that, and stick to the Indian cast and crew and of course Karan Johar, since he is caught between the Indo-Pak tension more than anybody else.
THINK people, before that’s banned too!
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