After Rs five crore ‘extortion’ deal, MNS says it won’t oppose ‘Raees’, ‘Dear Zindagi’?

LAHORE: After the decks were today cleared for the smooth release of "Ae Dil Hai Mushkil", Maharashtra Navnirman Sena's cine wing said they won't oppose the release of other two films "Raees" and "Dear Zindagi" which star Pakistani actors.

Director Karan Johar accompanied by Producers' Guild President Mukesh Bhatt met Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis and assured him that filmmakers would not work with Pakistani artistes given the people's sentiments in India post Uri attacks.

Fadnavis met Johar and Bhatt at his residence 'Varsha' here this morning along with MNS chief Raj Thackeray, whose party had been opposing the release of the upcoming movie as Pakistani actor Fawad Khan features in the film.

While Fawad has a special appearance in the romantic- drama, Pakistani actress Mahira Khan will be making her Bollywood debut opposite Shah Rukh Khan in "Raees" and in "Dear Zindagi" Ali Zafar is one of the actors paired opposite Alia Bhatt.  When asked if "Raees" will be met with the same opposition as that of "Ae Dil...", working president of Maharashtra Navnirman Chitrapat Karmachari Sena, Shalini Thackeray said, "They always said that these films were shot before the (Uri) attack happened.

"So, in today's meeting, it became clear that apart from the three films which have been completed- 'Ae Dil Hai Mushkil', 'Raees' and 'Dear Zindagi' - no other films with Pakistani artistes will be released.

"No films with Pakistani actors will be shot. This was decided by the CM, MNS, and producers guild together." She was speaking at a panel discussion about Pakistani artistes working in Bollywood at Aaj Tak's special event 'Manthan'.

Actors like Ashurosh Rana, Dalip Tahil and adman Prahlad Kakkar were present at the event. Rana said he was happy that the issue of "Ae Dil Hai Mushkil" was resolved, but asked why only put an end to actors working in Bollywod and continue business relations with Pakistan.