Shah Rukh Khan and Mahira Khan in Raees. (Image courtesy: YouTube)
Quick Take
Summary is AI generated, newsroom reviewed.
Mahira was not invited to promote Raees in India
The film needed to be released, said Mahira Khan
Raees was Mahira Khan's Bollywood debut
So sweet ! Somewhere I feel We have wronged her. our people forgot that she is an artist, not the enemy ! we took away her right as an actor ! Unfair. @TheMahiraKhan you are wonderful and thank you for being a part of #Raees https://t.co/pFMutxN1qq
— rahul dholakia (@rahuldholakia) December 15, 2017
Mahira Khan plays actor Shah Rukh Khan's onscreen wife in the crime thriller, which released in January. Due to the deterioration of Indo-Pak relations after the 2016 Uri attack, some political outfits objected to the casting pf Pakistani actors in Bollywood films. Karan Johar's Ae Dil Hai Mushkil was also entangled in the controversy and the director had to axe actor Fawad Khan's screen time.
The makers of Raees (Farhan Akhtar and Ritesh Sidhwani) along with lead actor Shah Rukh Khan met the leaders of the aforementioned political parties and settled to retain Mahira's part in the film but she was not invited to India for the film's promotion. She did her bit to promote Raees on social media, after all it was her Bollywood debut film.
Talking about her experience of filming Raees, Mahira told Bollywood Hungama: "Whether it was Shah Rukh Khan or Rahul or Ritesh Sidhwani or Farhan Akhtar, they all have been so amazing. At the end of the day, it's about films, which is bigger than all of us combined. The film needed to be released. The film had to do well. They were all amazing. They still are."
Mahira Khan was last seen in Pakistani film Verna, which tacked a fair share of controversies in the country.
