''Ae Dil Hai...'' to release as producers say won''t work with Pak artistes

Mumbai, October 22

Decks were cleared on Saturday for the smooth release of filmmaker Karan Johar's upcoming movie ‘Ae Dil Hai Mushkil’ after the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena called off their protest against it.

Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis met Johar and Producers' Guild President Mukesh Bhatt at his residence 'Varsha' on Saturday morning. Maharashtra Navnirman Sena chief Raj Thackeray, whose party has been opposing the movie that features Pakistani actor Fawad Khan, also attended the meeting, as did producers Sidharth Roy Kapur, Sajid Nadiadwala and Vijay Singh of Fox Star Studios.

Speaking to the press, Bhatt called the meeting "positive and constructive and said “ ‘Ae Dil Hai Mushkil’ would release according to its schedule”.

"We discussed the unfortunate events related to the film's release. I shared the film industry's emotions regarding the entire issue. We are Indians first and then comes our business (sic)," he said.

Bhatt also claimed they had promised the chief minister that the industry would never work with Pakistani artistes.

The guild will call a meeting to pass a resolution on the subject and give a copy of it to the Information and Broadcasting Ministry and the chief minister, he said.

Besides, Johar has decided to make a special mention of the soldiers who died in the attack in north Kashmir’s Uri on September 18.

"Karan Johar will display a slate of tribute for Uri martyrs before 'Ae Dil Hai Mushkil' starts playing. It is a tribute from us to our soldiers," Bhatt said.

Film’s producers will also contribute a portion of its revenue to the army welfare fund.

“We owe this to the Army," Bhattt said.

Thackeray said every producer who cast Pakistani artistes would donate Rs 5 crore to the Indian Army relief fund.

"Producers will have to give in writing that they will not take Pakistani actors in their films," the leader claimed.

Johar's ‘Ae Dil Hai Mushkil’ — which stars Ranbir Kapoor, Aishwarya Rai Bachchan and Anushka Sharma in lead roles — had been embroiled in controversy over the past few weeks after the MNS opposed movies featuring Pakistani actors after the attack.

The movie is scheduled for release on October 28. — PTI