Why Hindi Medium Faced No Protest In India Despite Casting A Pakistani Actor?

The makers of films like Raees and Ae Dil Hai Mushkil have faced political protests for casting Pakistani actors. The protesters had even threatened to stop the screening of the two films in some parts of India. But Bollywood’s latest release Hindi Medium did not face any such thing for casting Pakistani actress Saba Qamar, who also made her Bolly debut with this film.

In an interview with Koimoi on Wednesday, Dinesh Vijan was quizzed on why his latest production Hindi Medium did not have the same fate as Ae Dil Hai Mushkil or Raees, to which he replied, “Jab yeh picture (Hindi Medium) bani thi, tab mahol bohut achha tha. There were no problems. We completed the film in Delhi and submitted it to the association. That is why we got to release it peacefully. I think those films paved the way for me to not have a problem. That was the reason. There is a ban on doing fresh films with Pakistani actors now but ours was complete.”

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Dinesh is happy with the response Hindi Medium has received from critics and its box office performance, especially on Monday and Tuesday.

While he was the producer of Hindi Medium, he is making his directorial debut with Sushant Singh Rajput and Kriti Sanon starrer Raabta. Why did he decide to wear the director’s hat? Dinesh answers, “A special thing about the picture is their (Sushant and Kriti’s) chemistry, which made me make the film. I don’t know why I directed it. I really liked the story and Homi Adajania told me that you should make this because you understand it, no one will be able to make it better than you.”

What next is he doing after Raabta? The filmmaker announced, “We are doing Homi Adajania’s next, Sriram Raghavan’s Badlapur 2, which will have a female protagonist this time and we are just finishing the script and there is Saket Chaudhary’s next.”

What drives him towards content-driven films? Dinesh answers, “For the last three years I have been focusing on good stories. A film’s content is very important, for the makers as well as the actors. Every story which you turn into a film should be entertaining so that you can watch the film happily and take back something with you while going home.”