Pakistani artists banned “Until normalcy returns”

Among all the rapid developments that happened over the last week regarding the India Pakistan terrorist attacks, the latest update is that Pakistani actors and technicians have been banned by The Indian Motion Picture Producers Association “until normalcy returns” between the two nations. They are banned from both Indian film television and theatre mediums’. In a shocking revelation, Rahat Fateh Ali Khan has been thrown out of a movie since he is a Pakistani! TP Aggarwal, the producer of the movie ‘Laali Ki Shaadi Mein Laddoo Deewana’, said that it is his moral duty to ban the Pakistani artist’s work.

The decision derived from the following terrorist attacks by Pakistani militants in Uri which resulted in the death of 18 Indian soldiers, and retaliation by India in the form of surgical strikes.

This ban sure is a threaten to our beloved Pakistani talents such as Fawad Khan, Ali Zafar and Mahira Khan who all have films releasing shortly. The IMPPA have however assured that projects that have already been completed don’t fall under the purview of the decision. Many members of the Indian Film fraternity rose their opinions on the idea of banning talent and trivialising the whole issue.

Director Karan Johar said “If this was truly a solution, one would take it. But this is not a solution. I don’t believe it is. The larger forces have to come together and the sort the situation and this cannot be banning talent or art.”

Actor Riteish Deshmukh reacted saying “Artists are like soft targets, which is very unfortunate. The concentration is somewhere else and this is not the solution to it. If this was a solution then fair enough, but this is not the solution.

Soha Ali Khan responded with the question “Why should some Pakistani artist pay for what is happening at the border which is being done by someone else, just because they happen to be from Pakistan? Art, artists and films should not be bound by things like this.” Meanwhile, Saif Ali Khan said “Our film industry is open to talents from around the world especially cross border. We are artists who talk about love and peace. The government must make decisions about law and order and who is allowed and who isn’t.

Young talent Varun Dhawan stated “It has to come from the Government. And if they take any steps, we will have to see what they do after that. If by banning actors, terrorism can be stopped then they should do it.”

Much experienced Juhi Chawla seems to think that ”we have gone out of our senses. The issues raised are showing we are just trying to fix our problems; we are not taking that out from the roots…we have to change from within.”