Neerja Producer Lashes Out Against Raees Ban In Pakistan

Atul Kasbekar has angrily taken to Twitter after news broke that Shah Rukh Khan-Mahira Khan starrer Raees has been banned in Pakistan

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Neerja Producer Lashes Out Against Raees Ban In Pakistan

Atul Kasbekar, the producer of the critically acclaimed Sonam Kapoor starrer Neerja, woke up to the news that the Shah Rukh Khan starrer Raees has been banned in Pakistan

srk in raees
Image Source: media

Earlier, the director of the film Rahul Dholakia had taken to Twitter to speak out against the move.

As a reply to the tweet, Atul Kasbekar, who is a good friend of Dholakia’s, lashed out at the Pakistani Censors.

But his response seemed to confuse a lot of fans of Raees who started questioning Atul, and finally he replied with a couple of tweets.

We got in touch with Atul asking about what he actually meant, and the ace photographer-turned-producer lashed out against the ban.

neerja movie poster
Image Source: twitter/neerjathefilm

"We should switch off on Pakistan as a market given the ad hoc nature of their censor board. Their film approval actions have little logic. For example, they banned our Neerja without even screening it when Pakistan was the first country to honour the late Neerja Bhanot. With the Tamgha-i-insaaniyat honour in fact (which is the highest civilian honour of Pakistan). Go figure the logic or illogic of that sort of a thing," said Kasbekar.


He also clarified that he and Rahul are good friends, and thus he felt so strongly for Raees. He said, "Rahul and I know each other from school. He is one of my oldest buddies."

When asked about the Raees ban specifically, Atul said, "Why would you ban Raees there as well (as in after Neerja)? I've seen it and can't think of what would be objectionable in it from a neighbour’s perspective. I feel it should've released there without a hitch."

a still from raess
Image Source: hdwallpapers


To talk about the elephant in the room, when filmmakers cast actors or actresses from Pakistan, they obviously have that person's huge fan base in Pakistan in their mind. They always think that the movie would release in Pakistan because it features one of their own and thus earn huge profits even in Pakistan. However, when such a movie gets banned, the whole process of casting that person seems futile.

In case of Raees, it was Mahira Khan.

So we asked Atul about the same. But he refrained from commenting on the casting by saying, "I don't have a view on the casting."

Thumbnail Image Source: canindia/images

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