Fawad Khan and Mahira Khan’s ‘The Legend of Maula Jatt’ is expected to be a reboot of the 1979 Pakistani film ‘Maula Jatt’. The Legend of Maula Jatt’ film was originally released in 2022 in Pakistan. However, the film has cancelled its release in India on 2nd October as Indian films have not been allowed in Pakistan since 2019.
According to ANI report, the release of the film in India has been cancelled as Indian films have not been permitted in Pakistan since 2019. The tweet shared by ANI reported that, ‘Pakistani film ‘The Legend of Maula Jatt’ is not being permitted in cinema theatres in India. It is learnt that the decision has been taken as Indian films have not been permitted in Pakistan since 2019: Sources.”
The announcement of ‘The Legend of Maula Jatt’ release in India was met with severe backlash in the political circles. The Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) said they will not allow the film to be screened anywhere in India.
Raj Thackeray wrote in Marathi on Social Media platform X, “Pakistani actor named Fawad Khan’s movie titled ‘Legend of Maula Jatt’ is going to release in India soon. Maharashtra Navnirman Sena will not allow the movie to be released in Maharashtra under any circumstances. Why are films of Pakistani actors allowed to be released in India?”
In a long post, he further said, “And art knows no national boundaries, that’s all right in other cases, but in Pakistan it won’t work at all. What kind of action is being taken to bring the actors of a country that is divided on the sole issue of hatred of India, to dance here and to screen their films? Governments should not allow this film to be screened in any state of the country, let alone Maharashtra.”
The president of MNS Wing, Amey Khopkar was quoted saying, “We will not entertain any Pakistani film or actors in India.” He further stated, “This film will not be allowed to release. If it does, there will be strong protests.” Khopkar asked, “Our soldiers are dying. Why do we need Pakistani actors here? Don’t we have enough talent?”
This is after the Uri attack in 2016, a blanket ban on Pakistani artists working in Indian films and in the country was imposed. Despite legal challenges against the ban, the Supreme Court rejected a petition in November 2023 that aimed to remove restrictions on Pakistani artists working in India. The Indian Motion Picture Producers Association (IMPPA) cited ‘patriotism’ and ‘security’ for Indian artists as the reasons for not working with Pakistanis and vice-versa.
However, Fawad Khan and Mahira Khan have already made their Bollywood debut with ‘Khoobsurat’ (2014) and ‘Raees’ (2017). Upon its release in Pakistan, ‘The Legend of Maula Jatt’ clocked over RS 400 crore at the global box office.