Few political parties have threatened to stall the release of Karan Johar’s Ae Dil Hai Mushkil since it has a Pakistani actor, Fawad Khan, as one of the cast members. The protests have come in light of the recent Uri attacks in Jammu and Kashmir by Pakistan based terrorists in which 17 Indian soldiers lost their lives. Even Shah Rukh Khan’s Raees, which releases on 2017 Republic Day, has faced similar threats.
Starring Ranbir Kapoor and Aishwarya Rai Bachchan in the lead, Ae Dil Hai Mushkil is clashing with Ajay Devgn’s Shivaay at the box-office on 28 October during Diwali. Interestingly, not many would know that Devgn too had roped in a Pakistani actor named Ali Kazmi to play the character of a military officer. However, as the shoot got delayed, he had to walk out of the project due to dates and location issues.
Kazmi was quoted saying, “It's mainly due to them not filming in Canada and their schedule getting majorly delayed. I was occupied with shooting Dobara Phir Se so I couldn’t go where they were so the location and dates didn’t work out for me. But more to come ahead InshaAllah. You win some, you lose some. I wish the Shivaay team the best of luck!”
In case the Pakistani actor had indeed been one of the cast of Shivaay, there might have been protests for both the Diwali releases this year. So, can we say Kazmi saved the film from getting into controversy?