Replace Mahira, Fawad In ‘Raees’, ‘Ae Dil Hai Mushkil’, Demands MNS

- September 28, 2016 | 5:13 PM IST

The MNS on Wednesday demanded the replacement of Pakistani actors Mahira Khan and Fawad Khan from their respective Bollywood projects Raees and Ae Dil Hai Mushkil.

At a press conference here, Amey Khopkar, President of Maharashtra Navnirman Sena’s film wing, said: “The day Pakistan will stop attacking our country, we will extend the hand of friendship. We do not have anything against art but the artistes who are employed in India, but remained mum on the terror attack in Uri.”

Replace Mahira Khan, Fawad Khan in ‘Raees’, ‘Ae Dil Hai Mushkil’, demands MNS

“We gave them an ultimatum of 48 hours to leave India. You can rest assured that they have left, but if we find any Pakistani artiste, we won’t spare (them).”

On Tuesday, MNS workers protested outside filmmaker Karan Johar’s Dharma Productions office for casting Fawad in Ae Dil Hai Mushkil.

Talking about Karan, Khopkar said: “Karan Johar isn’t bigger than the government. If Karan Johar and ‘Raees‘ makers don’t replace the actors, we will not allow ‘Ae Dil Hai Mushkil‘ and ‘Raees‘ to release.”

Raees marks Mahira’s entry into Bollywood and features superstar Shah Rukh Khan in the lead, while Ae Dil Hai Mushkil stars Fawad with Ranbir Kapoor, Aishwarya Rai Bachchan and Anushka Sharma.

The party’s General Secretary Shalini Thackeray said, “Fawad Khan is not the only target. We are against every Pakistani actor. We will not allow any Pakistani actor to work in Mumbai.”