The King of Bollywood, Shah Rukh Khan, is all to set to release his next movie “Raees”; however, the presence of Pakistani actress Mahira Khan might have created some problems. But it seems that fortunately for the actors and makers, the film will finally be released peacefully. There were speculations of protests from some political parties as the co-producer Ritesh Sidhwani made a statement that as there is no restriction from the side of govt. with regard to Pakistani actors coming to India, Mahira might come and promote “Raees” in India if needed.
Shah Rukh too gave his acceptance to Ritesh’s statement; however last evening, he met the MNS chief Raj Thackeray and made his stand clear on the matter of Mahira and other Pakistani actors.
The one-hour meeting has been held at Thackeray’s residence in which SRK has assured the political leader that Mahira is not coming to India and he won’t be working with any Pakistani actor in the future.
The news has been confirmed by Amey Khopkar of MNS to indianexpress.com. In his words,
“There was news in the media for past one week that SRK is going to get Mahira Khan to India for film promotions. So he came here to meet Raj Saheb to tell that Mahira Khan is not coming to India for any kind of film promotion and he will also not cast any Pakistani artistes in future.”
MNS is not going to protest against “Raees” as Amey said,
“In the meeting between Raj Saheb and the Chief Minister of Maharashtra and Producers’ Guild that took place in October, it was decided all the films that have already been shot and has Pakistani actors in it will be allowed to release and going forward no Indian producer, director or actor will work with Pakistani artistes. SRK too agreed to the same in his meeting with Raj Saheb.”
There were voices against Pakistani actors working in Bollywood but these voices intensified after the Uri attacks in which 19 Indian soldiers lost their lives. The Indian Army in retaliation conducted a surgical strike across the LoC, destroying the launch pads of terrorists. Since then, there have been huge protests by MNS against the working of Pakistani actors in the film industry and they have decided that no movie which includes any Pakistani actor will be released in India.
Karan Johar’s “Ae Dil Hai Mushkil” faced a lot of problems from the side of MNS until the Maharashtra CM Devendra Fadnavis got involved in the matter and peace was made between Raj Thackery, KJo and the Film & Television Producers Guild of India. The movie was released then on Oct 28 without any problem.
SRK has faced problems from MNS in 2013 also when Marathi movies were removed from the single screen cinema halls to screen Chennai Express. Before that, Shah Rukh’s “My Name Is Khan” also encountered troubles from Shiv Sena but the matter was sorted out later on.
It seems that “Raees” will be released peacefully and SRK’s fans will get to watch him very soon on big screen in a new role. By the way, do you think that “Raees” will be SRK’s biggest blockbuster? Do let us know your views in the comments section below.
