Mahira Khan talks about Bollywood friends, meeting them in other countries to 'protect each other': We are easy targets

Mahira Khan said that actors will always be treated as ‘scapegoats’ in both India and Pakistan and as artists one can only hope that someone in power does not use them as ‘easy targets.’

Mahira Khan, who made her Bollywood debut opposite Shah Rukh Khan in Raees (2017), said that actors are considered "soft targets" in India as well as in Pakistan. Although Raees was a hit, Mahira was not able to continue working in India due to political tensions between India and Pakistan, which ultimately led to Pakistani actors and musicians being banned from working in India. (

Mahira Khan and Fawad Khan in The Legend of Maula Jatt.

Mahira Khan spoke about her Bollywood experience in a new interview. She said she was in touch with people she worked with in India. The actor added that she meets and talks to her friends from Bollywood, but is ‘careful’ with what she writes on social media to ‘protect’ them and herself from scrutiny.

Talking about her experience in working in India, the actor said in an interview with Variety,“I had the most amazing time working in India. I am still in touch with so many people and there’s a lot of love there. Unfortunately, we are easy targets, soft targets, whether it’s us here in Pakistan, whether it’s them there in India. Because we’re artists, and we’re connected by that thread of art, we actually get each other. So we’re trying to look out for each other, more than anything. Even now, we are so careful with what we write on social media. It’s not that we don’t talk to each other. It’s not that we don’t wish each other on our birthdays. It’s not that we don’t meet each other in different countries. It’s not that – it’s just that we are actually not just protecting ourselves but protecting each other.”

Mahira further added the reason behind this is mainly politics. “Unfortunately, it’s politics, it’s not a personal thing. On both ends, until the time that scapegoats are needed, we will always be that… But let’s say that it gets better. Let’s say that there is someone in power who does not use us as easy targets. That would be lovely. Can you just imagine the collaboration? It would be lovely,” she concluded.

Mahira stars in Bilal Lashari’s The Legend of Maula Jatt, alongside star Fawad Khan. The film that also stars Hamza Ali Abbasi, Humaima Malik, Faris Shafi and Gohar Rasheed, is a reboot of Yunus Malik’s 1979 cult classic Maula Jatt. Released in Pakistan on October 13, The Legend of Maula Jatt has become the highest grossing Pakistani film of all time. The film is set to release in India this week.