Bollywood’s newest release Veere Di Wedding that features Sonam Kapoor, Kareena Kapoor, Swara Bhaskar and Shikha Talsania has been banned in Pakistan due to vulgar content. In a recent interview, as part of the film’s promotions, Swara Bhaskar called Pakistan a “failing state” while speaking to film critic Rajeev Masand about the ban on the film in Pakistan.
This resulted in severe backlash for the actor, not just from Pakistan but from her own country as well. Actors from this side of the border who criticized and called this an attention-seeking act include Urwa Hocane, Gohar Rasheed and Armeena Khan.
However, in a recent turn of events, Swara Bhaskar, has taken a U-turn and brought in Indo-Pak peace to defend herself. Responding to one of the tweets on the matter amid trolling, she said, “There should be a distinction between states/ governments of a country and the people of that country. My regard for and goodwill towards the people of Pakistan remains unchanged. Some of my closest friends are Pakistani. Lahore remains one of my soul cities.”
Also, replying to an Indian who tweeted that they too didn’t like Swara’s remarks against Pakistan, she stated, “Looks like Indo-Pak peace is on the horizon!” while in another tweet she posted that she is happy being the enemy if it brings the “bickering neighbours” together.
Nonetheless, we aren’t convinced and the damage has been done. She may have bagged some serious attention but it paints a poor picture and the people in Pakistan may never look at her the same way.
