After a three-month ban on Indian films, cinema houses in Pakistan have finally started screening Indian films from this week. Movies like Freaky Ali and Baar Baar Dekho are playing right next to their Hollywood and Pakistani counterparts.
However, after fans in Pakistan lost out the opportunity to see Karan Johar’s deeply flawed but visually arresting Ae Dil Hai Mushkil on the big screen, the wrath has now fallen on Aamir Khan’s long-awaited film, Dangal. If reports are to be believed (and they are in this case), the film in question won’t be releasing in Pakistan at all.
According to The Indian Express, the spokesperson of the film’s distributor(s) has issued a statement stating that the film won’t be releasing in Pakistan and “any news reports to the contrary are false.”
The move will not only hurt sentiments of fans of Bollywood in Pakistan but also have an adverse effect on the business of the film on both sides of the border.
The film, which brings Aamir Khan back to the big screen after eons, is based on the life of well known wrestler Mahavir Singh Phogat and his daughters Geeta and Babita Phogat. Aside from Khan, the film also stars TV superstar Sakshi Tanwar and actors Fatima Sana Shaikh and Sanya Malhotra, in the role of Khan’s daughters. Directed by Nitesh Tiwari, Dangal is scheduled to release in India, later this week.