Pakistani star's Bollywood return excites fans and riles far right
MUMBAI — Excitement is growing in cinema-mad India for the return of a movie star from Pakistan to its big screens after his long absence due to an industry ban on artists from the neighboring country.
Fawad Khan, an actor, singer and producer with a huge following in India, announced his Bollywood comeback last week, sending fans into a frenzy, 18 months after an Indian court effectively ruled that a de facto industry ban on Pakistani talent imposed in 2016 was illegal.
'The wait is over! Bringing love back to the big screen,' Khan posted to Instagram last week, alongside a short teaser for the May 9 release of rom-com 'Abir Gulaal.'
The post set off a wave of excitement among fans on social media and on the streets of Mumbai, the home of Bollywood.
'Super stoked to have an artist as talented as Fawad Khan back in Indian cinema,' said marketing professional Phhagun Dev. 'You have been missed.'
Manya Shiksharthi agreed. 'Art has the power to cross borders and connect people in ways nothing else can so hoping for the absolute best,' she said.
India's multibillion-dollar movie industry produces around 1,500 to 2,000 films per year in more than 20 languages – more than any other country – and holds an outsized influence on the country's culture, identity and economy.
While Pakistani and Indian performers have a long and storied history of collaboration, that came to an abrupt halt nine years ago after dozens of Indian soldiers were killed in a militant attack in the disputed Kashmir region that was followed by deadly clashes along the contested border.
India blamed Pakistan for the attack, which Islamabad denied, and as tensions escalated between the two nuclear-armed neighbors, the Indian Motion Picture Producers Association imposed a de-facto ban on Pakistani talent.
Khan, the star of multiple hit Bollywood films, simply disappeared from Indian screens. Meanwhile, Pakistan has largely restricted Indian films from release in the country since 2016.
Where Hindi cinema once reflected certain secular, democratic values championed by India's founding fathers, many critics say the industry has veered toward the right over the past decade – coinciding with the populist rule of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Hindu-nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
Alarmed liberals and some industry insiders point to a string of recent blockbusters that they say perpetuate anti-Muslim stereotypes and sideline opposition views.
A BJP national spokesperson previously told CNN the party is not prejudiced against Muslims, and the community has benefited from Modi's leadership.
Regardless of the political climate, a pathway for stars from Muslim-majority Pakistan to return to Bollywood was opened in 2023, when the Bombay High Court rejected a petition seeking a total ban on Pakistani actors from working in India.
Such a move would be 'a retrograde step in promoting cultural harmony, unity and peace,' the court ruled.
Yet in Khan's home country, the film is not expected to release, upsetting fans and cinema lovers alike.
'As a fan of Pakistani dramas and Hindi cinema, I for one will be disappointed to miss out on the experience of watching this creative collaboration, starring one of our most celebrated superstars,' said Lahore-based freelance journalist and communications expert Abbas Hussain.
Once a single nation, India and Pakistan were hastily divided by their departing British colonial ruler along religious lines with devastating results, giving rise to one of the world's fiercest geopolitical rivalries.
In the nearly eight decades since, the two countries have fought three wars and introduced heavy restrictions on travel and exchange of goods, despite sharing a border, a culture and a deeply intertwined history.
Among that shared culture is a nearly universal love for cinema.
Khan's new movie 'Abir Gulaal' references the Hindu festival of colors Holi in its title. Set in London, it tells 'a love story filled with unexpected turns,' according to its synopsis.
In the teaser, Khan serenades Indian actor Vaani Kapoor to the tune of a popular Hindi love song.
'Abir Singh, are you flirting?' she asks Khan. 'Do you want me to?' he replies.
Khan's impending return to Bollywood is 'heartening news,' Indian film critic and analyst Tanul Thakur said.
'It also reminds us what art can truly achieve: collapsing national boundaries, bringing people closer, and giving the fans a reason to smile,' he said.
Anisha Pal, 26, a movie fan and marketing professional from Kolkata, echoed that sentiment. 'I am extremely happy to see him back in Bollywood,' she said. 'Art and artists shouldn't get affected by politics. I think his return sends out a message of hope.'
But not everyone is happy. Politicians from India's Hindu-nationalist far right blasted the news of Khan's return and have vowed to derail his film's release.
'Despite saying so many times that films by Pakistani artists will not be released in India, some nasty people still try to push their agenda,' the president of the cinema wing of the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS), a regional party in Bollywood's home state, wrote on X last week.
'We will not let the film release in India and that's final. Those who want to support Pakistani artists are free to do so, but just remember that you will have to face us.'
Neither Khan, nor the movie's producers, have publicly commented on the perceived threats. CNN is attempting to reach them for comment.
This isn't the first time Khan has faced the wrath of India's Hindu right.
In 2022, his movie 'The Legend of Maula Jatt' – Pakistan's highest grossing film of all time – was banned from release in India following threats from the far-right.
'The amount of business this film has done and the kind of boundaries it's pushed... is going to have a profound effect in the years to come and I hope it continues like that,' Khan told CNN at the time.
Despite the hostility of right-wing politicians, many Indian fans say they are open to seeing more Pakistani stars on their screens.
'They have been loved by the Indian audience too,' said Tania Rao, a teacher from Delhi.
'Talent should be appreciated and seen beyond boundaries... I'm excited to see a good actor given a good film, and more hopeful if it aids to soothe the tension that always seems to exist between India and Pakistan.' — CNN
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