The Maharashtra Navnirman Sena on Wednesday toughened its stand on the ongoing controversy surrounding Bollywood film Ae Dil Hai Mushkil, saying no multiplex would be allowed to screen the Karan Johar-directorial venture.
“Karan woke up very late. This is not the time to say sorry. He had a change of heart, we didn’t” Amey Khopkar, president of the MNS’s Chitrapat Karamchari Sena, told reporters.
“We are firm on our demand that no multiplex will show Ae Dil Hai Mushkil. If they do so, in our own style we will break their screens,” he added. Khopkar also warned the production houses not to rope in Pakistani artistes in their film, else face consequences. Adding further, the party’s stand had been firm for the past few years.
A delegation of the party’s cinema workers unit met MNS chief Raj Thackeray and it was decided that the protest against the film would continue.
On Tuesday, Karan Johar in an emotional video message had said that he loved his country and the nation for him was above everything else. Johar also said that he will not engage any Pakistani artiste in the future.
Ae Dil Hai Mushkil’s release hangs in limbo as it features Pakistani actor Fawad Khan. The MNS has threatened not to let the film screen on theatres until Fawad was not removed from the film.
A fresh controversy erupted when filmmaker Anurag Kashyap rushed to Johar’s defence, tweeting to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and seeking apology from him for visiting Pakistan on December 25 last year.
However, Kashyap later clarified that his tweets were not intended to seek PM Modi’s apology, but to ask him as to why the film industry continues to become a soft target for every issue ongoing in the country.
