Anurag Kashyap Questions PM Modi's Silence Over Pak Artistes Ban

Mumbai: Bollywood filmmaker Anurag Kashyap on Sunday asked Prime Minister Narendra Modi to apologise for his trip to Pakistan in December last year.

Kashyap vented his frustration following the cinema owners' decision here not to screen movies with Pakistani actors, a move that has hit hard Karan Johar's Ae Dil Hai Mushkil which features Pakistani Fawad Khan.

"We solve all our problems by blaming it on movies and banning it. Ae Dil Hai Mushkil, with you on this Karan Johar," Kashyap tweeted.

"Narendra Modi Sir, you haven't yet said sorry for your trip to meet the Pakistani PM. It was December 25. Same time KJo was shooting 'Ae Dil Hai Mushkil'? Why?" Anurag asked.

"Narendra Modi, why is it that we have to face it while you can be silent? Narendra Modi and you actually diverted your trip on our tax money, while the film shot then was on the money on which someone here pays interest.

"I am just trying to understand the situation because I am actually dumb and I don't get it. Sorry if you feel offended," added the director.

On his way home from Kabul, Modi halted in Lahore in December last year for a surprise meeting with his Pakistani counterpart Nawaz Sharif.

The Cinema Owners and Exhibitors Association of India on Friday said that movies featuring Pakistani actors would not be screened in single screen theatres in Maharashtra, Goa and Gujarat.

The decision came amid heightened India-Pakistan tensions in the wake of a terror attack on an Indian Army camp in Jammu and Kashmir and the Indian Army's surgical strikes on Pakistani territory.

Bollywood superstar Shah Rukh Khan's Raees is also under the radar for featuring Pakistan actress Mahira Khan.

Meanwhile, Alia Bhatt said she felt it is unfair to stall the release of a film. The actress said she has seen bits of the movie and found it beautiful.

"On a personal level, I found the film very beautiful and I've seen bits of it. It is an emotional film. On the other level, as a proud resident of this country and as a privileged member of the industry, I feel whatever is happening with the film at this point is unfair," she said.

"Because when the film was shot, a year ago, the climate was nice. The current climate I know how it is, but it was good back then," she told reporters in Mumbai last night.

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