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Abir Gulaal stars Fawad Khan with Vaani Kapoor. The film is directed by Aarti S.
Ridhi Dogra admits she checked for legalities before working with Fawad Khan. (Photos: Instagram)
After the teaser of Fawad Khan’s Bollywood comeback movie, Abir Gulaal, was recently released, some people objected to it and questioned the casting of a Pakistani actor in an Indian movie. Amid all this, actress Ridhi Dogra, who will also be sharing the screen with Fawad in the movie, has come out saying that there is nothing wrong with working with a Pakistani actor.
Recently, a video of Ridhi surfaced on social media in which she admitted checking legalities before signing Abir Gulaal with Fawad Khan. Ridhi mentioned that the Indian government has no objection to it and therefore, it is not wrong to share the screen space with a Pakistani actor.
“There is no division in art. Whenever we watch a play or a movie, we see only those characters. We don’t see their nationality. That’s what I thought upon deciding to work in the movie. The only thing I checked was if I was allowed to work with someone of the said nationality (Pakistani). And yes, our country and government give us permission. I did that homework. If that wasn’t the case, I wouldn’t have done the film,” she said. While the video has resurfaced on social media, the interview is dated November 2024.
Interestingly, this comes a day after Raj Thackeray’s Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) opposed the film’s release in Maharashtra because of Fawad Khan’s casting. “We only learned about this film’s release today when the makers announced it. But we are making it clear that we will not allow this film to release in Maharashtra because it features a Pakistani actor. Under no circumstances will we permit such films to be released in the state. We are gathering more information about the film and will soon issue a full statement,” MNS spokesperson Ameya Khopkar told Dainik Bhaskar.
Shiv Sena leader Sanjay Nirupam also reacted to the controversy and added, “There is widespread hatred for Pakistan in India. When a film from Pakistan is released, Indian audiences do not prefer watching it. Even if a few people watch it out of curiosity, Pakistani artists have never been able to gain widespread success in India.” He also urged the central government to step in and form a policy with regarding to working of Pakistani actors in India.
Abir Gulaal stars Fawad Khan with Vaani Kapoor. The film is directed by Aarti S.