MUMBAI: Sai Om Films’s Lahore has been denied a release in Pakistan.
The reason that the Pakistani authorities cite for the denial is the title of the film, which is being looked upon as creating problems in the neighbouring country. Another reason relates to a common perception that Indian films show Pakistan in a negative perspective.
Yet another initiative to defy all the boundaries and show the world that no war is bigger than the silence of peace has gone in vain. Based on the sport of ‘Kickboxing’, the film will release globally on 19 March 2010.
Though director Sanjay Puran Singh Chauhan tried to take a step ahead in bringing down barriers and also took a daring decision of naming his film Lahore, all efforts now seem to be going against him.
Distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures in India, Lahore stars a blend of talented actors like Farouque Sheikh, Nafisa Ali, Sushant Singh, Shraddha Nigam, Saurabh Shukla, Kelly Dorji, Sabyasachi Chakraborty, Late Nirmal Pandey and Mukesh Rishi.
Quips producer Vivek Khatkar, “I can understand the apprehensions that the concerned authorities of Pakistan have, but I can only say that we have made an International film and not just another Indian film. Only the language of the film is Hindi. It is a sports-based film and on general issues, which can be between any two nations and not only India-Pakistan. But the actual hero of the film is the emotions of a family and not that of just countries."