Bollywood filmmaker Anurag Kashyap on Sunday sarcastically asked Prime Minister Narendra Modi to apologise for his trip to Pakistan last December.
Kashyap was venting his frustration over the Cinema Owners and Exhibitors Association of India’s (COEAI) decision to curb the screening of Indian movies with Pakistani actors. This move has hit Karan Johar’s Ae Dil Hai Mushkil, which features Pakistani actor Fawad Khan.
“We solve all our problems by blaming it on movies and banning it. Ae Dil Hai Mushkil, with you on this Karan Johar,” Kashyap tweeted.
“Narendra Modi Sir, you haven’t yet said sorry for your trip to meet the Pakistani PM. It was December 25. Same time KJo was shooting Ae Dil Hai Mushkil? Why?” Kashyap went on the say.
“Narendra Modi, why is it that we have to face it while you can be silent? Narendra Modi and you actually diverted your trip on our tax money, while the film shot then was on money on which someone here pays interest.
“I am just trying to understand the situation because I am actually dumb and I don’t get it. Sorry if you feel offended. By the way, Bharat Mata ki Jai [long live mother India] Sir Narendra Modi,” Kashyap added.
On his way home from Kabul, Afghanistan, Modi stopped in Lahore for a surprise meeting with his Pakistani counterpart, Nawaz Sharif.
Kashyap has directed films such as Black Friday, Dev.D, Gulaal and That Girl in Yellow Boots.
Earlier this year, Kashyap drew Modi’s attention to the controversy over the censorship of his co-production, Udta Punjab.
The COEAI on Friday said that movies featuring Pakistani actors would not be screened in single screen theatres in Maharashtra, Goa and Gujarat.
The decision came amid heightened India-Pakistan tensions in the wake of a terror attack on an Indian Army camp in Jammu and Kashmir and the Indian Army’s surgical strikes on Pakistani territory.
Actor Shah Rukh Khan’s Raees is also under the scanner for featuring Pakistan actress Mahira Khan.
