MUMBAI: Pakistani actress Mahira Khan, in an interview on HARDtalk on BBC World News shared her entire experience when her pictures of her sharing a cigarette with Ranbir Kapor were made out to be something they were not.
The Humsafar actress said she felt violated and that it was the first time she had gotten mixed up in such a controversy. She also discussed the tensions between India and Pakistan, especially the Bollywood ban and how it was like working in the Bollywood industry.
Mahira recounted that the images had become a “national topic and debate”and said: “That was the first time in my entire career that I was caught up in a so-called controversy and it was strange because there were so many things in that. One, obviously you feel violated, you are in a personal down time moment and someone has just photographed you.
“Two, obviously there was an uproar, because here I was, someone who is extremely loved in Pakistan, and they sort of keep me up on this pedestal you know, they treat me with a lot of love and a lot of respect. And there are certain things I didn’t realise that they don’t want to see me do. At that point yes, it was crazy honestly because it lasted for a while… It was crazy, it was ridiculous.”
Furthermore talking about the release of her own Bollywood venture in Pakistan she was disappointed it was not released in her own country, “I was more excited about Raees being released in Pakistan than anywhere else, because all I wanted was to sit there with my best friends and my child Azlaan and the audience and watch this and I couldn’t.”
According to the Pakistani Censor Board, the film was an “ugly, horrible, unacceptable depiction of Muslims” and Mahira stated that she felt had the film been released at any other time, thus would not have been an issue. “I think their decisions sometimes are based on things that don’t even concern the film sometimes. So you know I don’t think that was the reason. They said it but I don’t know. I don’t know if Raees was released today, would it be released,” said Mahira.
The movie’s release coincided with the 2016 Uri attack and the surgical strikes which further increased tensions between the two states.
This also led to Pakistani artists being asked to leave India and due to this Mahira was unable to promote the film in India,“It was a two way thing. We got stuck under the political fire really, nothing else. But by the way, Pakistan is still showing Indian films, we haven’t banned Indian films at all.
