Mahira dropped from Shah Rukh starrer Raees: Indian media

MUMBAI: According to Indian media reports, Pakistani actress Mahira Khan has been dropped from the Shah Rukh Khan starrer Raees, owing to increasing tension between India and Pakistan.

It seems as if art is bound to suffer when relations between India and Pakistan deteriorate. The most recent victim appears to be Pakistani actress Mahira Khan, who grabbed headlines when she was cast alongside Shah Rukh Khan in his upcoming movie Raees. However, it seems as if escalating tensions between both nuclear-armed countries India and Pakistan finally forced the producer to drop the actress. 

"It was a very painful decision for producer Ritesh Sidhwani to take. The pressure to replace her had been building up for months. It reached a crescendo after the Uri attacks. It came to a point where it became impossible to shoot with any Pakistani. People suggested all kinds of solutions to the impasse, including shooting in Dubai. But it didn’t seem viable. Now, Mahira has unfortunately been relieved of her duties," a leading Indian website stated. 

With Mahira now gone, the production team is now on the hunt for a replacement for the Ho Mann Jahaan actress. Earlier, Pakistani artists Fawad Khan and Ali Zafar were also targeted by the Indian media and faced flak for not condemning the Uri attack which claimed the lives of 19 Indian soldiers.

Extremists in India have called for a ban on all Pakistani artists in India.