On 22nd September, Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) chief Raj Thackeray said that he will not allow the screening of Fawad Khan’s Pakistani hit movie The Legend of Maula Jatt in Maharashtra. He also warned of action against theatre owners if they allowed the screening of this Pakistani movie.
The Legend of Maula Jatt is a Pakistani Punjabi-language action drama film released in 2022 in the Pakistani theatres. It stars Fawad Khan, Hamza Ali Abbasi, Humaima Malik, Faris Shafi and Mahira Khan.
In a post on X, Raj Thackeray said, “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? Art has no national boundaries, which is fine in other cases, but in Pakistan’s case, it will not work at all. Governments should not allow this film to be screened in any state of the country, not just in Maharashtra. Everyone will remember what MNS did when such incidents happened before. Therefore, theatre owners are now humbly requested to not do the screening of the movie,” he further added in the post.
On 18th September, Bilal Lashari, the director of The Legend of Maula Jatt had announced the release of his movie in India. “Releasing in India, Punjab on Wednesday 2nd Oct! Two years in, and still house full on weekends in Pakistan! Now, I can't wait for our Punjabi audience in India to experience the magic of this labour of love,” he wrote on his Instagram page.
Why is Raj Thackrey not allowing the movie to get released?
Raj Thackeray gave the reason of not allowing Fawad Khan’s movie to get released in the theatres of the state. He said, “Navratri festival will start around the time when this movie will be released. I don't want any conflict to happen in Maharashtra at that time. And the same will not be the desire of the Chief Minister, Home Minister and Director General of Police of the state. And we don't want any conflict.”
This not the first time, a Pakistani movie is not allowed to get released in India, previously, after the Uri terror attack in 2016, India had implemented a ban on Pakistani artists working in the country.
However, in November 2023, the Supreme Court dismissed the petition that called for a total ban on Pakistani performers in India.