Right from television to film production houses, singers, directors, movie stars and broadcasters have agreed to ban Pakistani talent from their industry in the wake of the Pulwama attack where close to 44 soldiers were killed.
As India mourns the death of around 44 soldiers killed in the February 14 suicide bombing in Jammu and Kashmir’s Pulwama district, All India Cine Workers Association (AICWA) on Monday announced a total ban on Pakistani actors and artists working in Indian film industry.
In a notice shared on Twitter by Asian News International on Monday afternoon, the association said it would ban and take strong action against any organisation that insists on or is found working with Pakistani nationals.
Titled ‘Pakistani Artists Banned in Film Industry’ and signed by AICWA general secretary Ronak Suresh Jain, the notice read, “All India Cine Workers strongly condemns the brutal terrorist attack on our soldiers at Pulwama district in Jammu and Kashmir. Our heartfelt condolences to the families of the victims, AICWA stands with the nation in confronting terror and inhumanity.”
“We’re officially announcing a total ban on Pakistani Actors and Artists working in Film Industry. Still, if any organisation insists on working with Pakistani Artists will be banned by AICWA and strong action will be taken against them. The nation comes first, we stand with our nation,” they said.
Salman Khan also replaced Pakistani Singer Atif Aslam’s song from his upcoming production Notebook. He has allegedly replaced Pakistani singers Rahat Fateh Ali Khan and Aslam from his movie Bharat.
People shooting for commercials and channels joined artists and technicians representing 24 film associations in a two-hour protest against the Pulwama terror attack at Filmcity in Goregaon on Sunday.
Spearheaded by the Federation of Western India Cine Employees (FWICE), the protest doubled up as a warning to filmmakers against working with Pakistani talent or releasing their films in Pakistan.
“The Federation won’t allow Pakistani artistes to work in Indian films, and we won’t let producers their release films in Pakistan. The entire trade (with Pakistan) will be called off as far as the film industry is concerned,” FWICE chief advisor Ashoke Pandit told IANS.
“One of the reasons why we have banned (filmmakers from working with Pakistani talent) is also because none of the Pakistani artists has condemned this massacre. We hope the producers, distributors and music companies will support these demands by the Federation,” he said.
Days after Javed Akhtar and Shabana Azmi cancelled their upcoming visit to Karachi citing the Pulwama attack, singers Rekha Bhardwaj and Harshdeep Kaur also withdrew their name from Shaan-e-Pakistan 2019 gala, which is being held next month. Akhtar and Azmi were to take part in centenary celebrations of Shabana’s poet-father Kaifi Azmi.
Rekha, who has won many accolades as a singer, was a star attraction at the gala, where Indian and Pakistani talent would have shared the stage for a musical summit and awards night on March 21 and March 22. “I cancelled our show to Pakistan immediately after the Pulwama attack,” Rekha said. Harshdeep, known for her songs ‘Heer’ and ‘Dilbaro’, confirmed that she will also not be a part of the event in Lahore.
Indian music record label T-series also unlisted songs by Pakistani artists from its YouTube channel in favour of the ban.
The film division of the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS), a right-wing political party in India, had called on a ban on Pakistani artists collaborating with music producers in India.
“We have verbally communicated to Indian music companies like T-Series, Sony Music, Venus and Tips Music etc to not work with Pakistani singers. These companies should stop it immediately or we will take action in our own style,” said Amey Khopkar, head of the MNS Chitrapat Sena.
T-series’ frontman Bhushan Kumar had recently collaborated with Rahat Fateh Ali Khan and Atif Aslam for two songs, which have now been dropped from the YouTube channel.
Vishal Bhardwaj was also planning travel to Pakistan for research on the Netflix series Midnight’s Children, based on Salman Rushdie’s novel but that too allegedly stands cancelled.
The Pakistan Super League also may suffer a big blow as IMG Reliance pulled out from broadcasting the tournament as a mark of protest. The fourth edition of PSL is underway in Dubai since Thursday.
An official revealed that the tournament might be cancelled following the developments as IMG Reliance were the only producers of the event. The official said that unless the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) manages to rope in other sponsors, the event is likely to be cancelled.