What Bollywood would lose without Pakistani artistes
While Fawad Khan and Mahira Khan are the prominent faces affected by the ban on Pakistani artistes, the Bollywood music industry has also taken a hit.
Pakistani artistes working in Bollywood were the first to bear the brunt of bitter Indo-Pak ties ever since the September 18 Uri attacks.
Initially, the political outfit, Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) raised an objection to Pakistani artistes working in Indian projects and soon established Bollywood actors like Ajay Devgn started echoing similar sentiments.
While Fawad Khan and Mahira Khan are the prominent faces affected by the ban on Pakistani artistes, the Bollywood music industry has also taken a hit.
From music albums to playback singing, there are several prominent Pakistani artistes involved in big-budget Indian projects. And they have been the part of successful Bollywood ventures in the past too.
Here, we list what Bollywood and India would lose sans Pakistanis.
Kapoor & Sons: Directed by Shakun Batra, this Dharma Productions film featured Fawad Khan in an important role. Later, he turned out to be the most liked character of the film. Now, it’s difficult to imagine anybody else in that role.
Tere Bin Laden: Ali Fazal played a Pakistani reporter in the film that traced a lookalike of Osama Bin Laden. He was sharp and funny in this comedy. He also understood the nuances of the rural lifestyle in Pakistan. Indian actors would have found it difficult to hit the correct frequency for the same character.
Mahira Khan: Thanks to Zindagi channel, she is a known face in Indian middle class homes. Her outing with Fawad Khan in Humsafar is a hit among the Indians as well.
Rahat Fateh Ali Khan: The singing sensation took a cue from his maestro uncle Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan and came to India to win hearts. His songs in films like Paap, Kalyug and Om Shanti Om created an army of fans in no time. He is now among the most heard singers in Bollywood. Banning him would bar his Indian fans from Khan’s midas touch.
Atif Aslam: Before the controversy, he was one of the highest paid singers in Bollywood. He doesn’t sing much in Hindi films, but when he does, he wins millions of hearts. Don’t you want to listen to that silky voice again in a song?
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