bollywood

Updated: Aug 03, 2018 18:53 IST

Bollywood film Mulk starring Rishi Kapoor and Taapsee Pannu has become the latest victim of a clampdown by Pakistan, which has banned Indian films in the past in response to the state of its political and military ties with New Delhi.

Mulk, which released on Friday in India, was reportedly banned by the Federal Censor Board of Pakistan on Thursday.

It had its share of controversy before the ban as Kapoor was trolled on social media after he praised Pakistan’s prime minister-elect Imran Khan and was accused of piggy-backing on the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf party leader’s speech for promoting his film.

“Well spoken Imran Khan. I have been saying whatever you said on all channels past two days regarding India-Pakistan! I hope you succeed in making your “Mulk” have good relations with my “Mulk”,” Kapoor had tweeted.

Khan even spoke about the Indian film industry, which is immensely popular in his country, as he complained that he was portrayed as a Bollywood villain by the media in the neighbouring country.

Several Indian films, including those of superstar Amitabh Bachchan who is popular on both sides of the border, have been banned in the past by Pakistan after diplomatic fallouts with India.

Last year, Indian blockbuster movie “Raees” starring Shah Rukh Khan and famous Pakistani actress Mahira Khan was banned by Islamabad for having inappropriate content. Dawn, a Pakistani newspaper, said that the film’s “content undermines Islam, and a specific religious sect, (while also) portraying Muslims as criminals, wanted persons and terrorists”.

Raees, the debut film for Mahira, was banned after tension escalated between the two neighbours as Indian security forces launched a crackdown on protests in Kashmir in July 2016, following the killing of Hizbul Mujahideen’s Burhan Wani by security forces.

Ties worsened further in September of that year when militants attacked an Indian Army base in Uri and killed 18 soldiers, a raid India blamed on Pakistan. Islamabad said it had no involvement in the attack.

And in May this year, Pakistan’s information and broadcasting ministry asked film exhibitors not to screen Indian films two days before and two weeks after Eid. The ministry said the move was in order to “revive and promote the local film industry in Pakistan”, which faces stiff competition from Bollywood.

Mulk, directed by Anubhav Sinha, centres around a Muslim family caught in a terror plot and becomes a pariah. Kapoor plays the family’s head, who approaches a court to fight the prejudice and is represented by his daughter-in-law, played by Pannu. Pannu essays the role of a Hindu girl married into the family.

“We are disturbed by this prejudiced verdict and it’s such an irony because our film talks about this very prejudice. We urge the Pakistani Censor Board to reconsider their decision,” film’s producer Deepal Mukut has said in a statement after the film was banned.

“They will realise how essential it is to the well-being of the human race across the world,” Mukut added.

Mulk also stars Prateik Babbar, Rajat Kapoor, Ashutosh Rana and Neena Gupta.

The first reviews for the film is out and both Rishi Kapoor and Taapsee Pannu have received great reviews.

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