Saif-Kareena spy flick Agent Vinod banned across Pakistan
The Pakistani censor board has rejected its clearance deeming the film could hurt sentiments in Pakistan.
Ticket sales have been stopped and hoardings have been taken off across cinemas in Karachi, where the screening of the film was expected.
Produced under Khan’s banner Illuminati Films, Agent Vinod had undergone copyright controversies about its screenplay and one of the film’s song Pyar Ki Pungi.
COMMENTS (145)
Comments are moderated and generally will be posted if they are on-topic and not abusive.
For more information, please see our Comments FAQ
1732225542-0/logan-(1)1732225542-0-165x106.webp "article")
1724919650-0/Untitled-design-(5)1724919650-0-270x192.webp "kundi to call apc on security")
Good, ban them All!!!! Waar (2012) Must be reply of this , Much better Story and Scenes to be seen..
@Tariq
You are quite welcome.
@Deepwater: Thank you for handing us reality on a platter. I didn't know all Indians are bleedin' heart good samaritans. Quite obviously u have the monopoly on reality and are generous enough to dole it out in such large portions. Keep up the good work!
@Pakikaka @Tariq
The Indians commenting here help keep the discussion real. If not for them, you guys would be stewing in your endless and mindless conspiracy theories or, as in the case of this discussion, making claims that are completely devoid of facts. You should be thankful to them but that would be a lot to expect.
I'm glad it's banned. You just can't expect two enemy countries to bash each other in movies and be okay with it.
@PakiKaka: Very relevant point made. The number of Indians on ET is surprising, and with their undue interest and comments on all things Pakistan, its almost as if someone is paying them to troll Pakistani sites. This is becoming a common phenomena now, just google the parable of the pizza parlor and the taco stand, and u will get my point.
Wönder what does google trends show when you type in 'Bollywood'.With it's 11 crore strong internet population, you would expect India to top the list for the maximum number of searches, but i wonder why is it 'Pakistan'(WHERE NO ONE HAS ANY INTEREST IN VULGAR BOLLYWOOD ANYMORE!) that tops the list. Ahh, it must be those RAW agents hiding in pakistan doing all those searches!
I am not fan of bollywood crap but as it is banned now I am curious to watch it. Very silly decision of Pakistan to ban that movie. Its just a movie and you will see this movie will even get no good rates in India. I think all educated people are fed of unrealistic and same old gihsi-piti stories.
@Optimist:
Agent Vinod is a pretty old hindi movie that inspired the present day Agent Vinod. India had its own American inspired pulp fiction especially from 60s to 80s.
@usmanx: True that... I don't even know the names of Indian newspapers, let alone knowing of their websites, then reading their internal news and then to top it... commenting on them and then spending the entire day on that website and replying to every comment of others... lmao... perhaps indians should spend time in the theatre watching agent vinod...
@bharat: Similarly a Pakistani newspaper is meant for Pakistanis not Indians... If you have so much free time to browse Pakistani newspapers and comment on them criticising our ban on Agent Vinod, then we pretty much have the right to utter whatever we feel like about your film industry...
But we don't have Agent VINOD !!!!
This is good, I hope many more films come out like this, on one hand it will stop film piracy or make Pakistani's themselves spread our message by their own hands. Good thinking by producer Saif Ali Khan.
@ Adnan
Read Zahida Hina's recent column (Daily Express) on Ibn-e-Safi's Imran Series main character name being changed as Agent Vinod in Hindi translations. . I think India is trying to create its own James Bond by changing our writers' main character's name. . . I wonder why Secular India has a problem with real character's Muslim name!!! . . Zahida Hina is a friendship ambassador for India/pakistan, probably that's why she mentioned that as if it is a normal thing.
i think Pakistan should ban Indian movies/ TV. The biggest market for Indian movies is India. The content of our movies is made for our audiences primarily. And there is no doubt that India and Pakistan are not friends. The content of some Indian movies will definitely suit Pakistanis and many people can find it offensive as well.
I really fail to understand why Pakistanis want to see our movies despite having your own film industry.
Please stop watching India tv/films etc and start loving your own films.
Ban or no ban, many people in Pak (including those in the forum welcoming the ban) will watch the movie. It's just that the theaters will lose the business.
@Atif: Yeah... Exactly....
@Atif: Very well said Atif.. the best solution is to ignore them.. they need attention which they cant in any indian newspapers... and they feel important... if we reply to them...
@Indian,
You bet we do…. Not often do we get chances to take a dig at factual errors our adversaries put up…..
Absolutely incorrect. You are here because you cannot dig up anything in Indian news paper without 'gaali galoch'.
I think we should allow the people to see the movie and remind them of the reality of our "friendly" neighbor. Keep ur friends close, but ur enemies closer!
@Mullah Kaka: " India has proved it is fascist country" Nice jokes... You guys are really funny... Boy i thought all Pakistanis are tight!!! LOL...
Pakistan should come out with a movie called 'Agent Raza' or something..showing RAW and Bal Thakarey in bad light..it would be a super hit in India :)
@ XYZ
"@Moise: “Cos India is a secular country and consider material to be the sole purpose of life.” Wonder if you say this for likes of Butts and Amir??"
Moise is 100% right. India has materialistic businessmen like Ambani, Tata,etc who bulid muti storey palaces for themselves and the average indian does not even have a toilet in their homes!
@Moise: "Cos India is a secular country and consider material to be the sole purpose of life." Wonder if you say this for likes of Butts and Amir??
Excellent move. Government should also ban its distributors in Pakistan; GEO Films, a subsidiary of in-famours " JEW Group ", the Agent-India TV and newspaper network.
@ Mullah Kuka So a Pakistani girls are only allowed to wear Burqahs? Mullahs have destroyed our country!
Ban all bollywood movies
Once again India has proved it is fascist country where muslims are oppressed and suppressed and depressed. Bollywood is infidel tool run by Zionist agencies.Muslims should not watch films. This man sif ali khan's mother is sharmila tagore who is daughter of ravindranatha tagore who wrote infidel poem 'vande mataram' which poor indian muslims are forced to sing. How dare he portay pakistani girl in the film without a burqa. Pakistan is a nuclear power and bollywood should not forget that.
@usmanx: indians sure do love our newspapers :-) You bet we do.... Not often do we get chances to take a dig at factual errors our adversaries put up.....
Indian gentleman says:
India should be concerned if some European or US Country bans it because they must have done it for a reason.
You can take the colonialist out of the colony but you can't take the colonialism out of the colonized. Respectfully yours. - Usmanx
By banning silly stupid Bollywood films, Pakistan is actually giving them undue importance.
How can the Pakistan censor board take these films seriously?
These films are funny at best and silly at worst! Give it a break and let your people enjoy.
@Zeta:
Its typical Mullah mentality. Ban something that you dont agree with personally. The fact is millions of Pakistanis LOVE Indian Movies and TV. Just because you dont like them why do you want to deprive them of their entertainment?
Chill for a moment.
@usmanx: You see bro, Most of these indians (trolls) come here on Pakistani (their enemy, wohoho very badguys) website just to vent out their daily life frustration and desperation.
I don't even remember last time i read indian newspaper and got involved in their politics like these indians do it.
its better to not associate religion, race etc with these people (saif ali khan etc), cuz the only thing that they believe in is 'money' and how to earn more and more of it, they will do anything to get as much of it as possible so why so emotional, just chill :)
Frankly, I dont give a rat's bottom.
Indian Movies are called for a reason- They are for INDIANS!
India should be concerned if some European or US Country bans it because they must have done it for a reason. Pakistan has a history of banning things which hurt their ultra-sentisitive Religious or Patriotic feelings(meaning anything offensive to only ISI/Army).
FYI, Pakistan has been abused in several Hollywood movies and TV shows coming of late. But, they are not banned as only the elite see it. But, Indian movies are seen by most Pakistanis, in a sort of cultural invasion kind of a way, so they have banned it.
@Pollack: I wonder how you wrote your comment with straight face. Superior Entertainment? LOL! Most of bollywood stuff is plagiarized and the rest are pure crap.
You guys can't make music and thats why hire Pakistani musicians and vroooom, the songs go blockbuster.
Spend a month or two watching latest Pakistani dramas, You will know what superior original entertainment is.
Let me give you a hint, Start With Humsafar. Watch Alpha Bravo Charlie for military comedic drama
Dont worry.. It would be available on torrent sameday of release.. and believe me more people will watch it... Now they wanto see why it was banned :P
@BRUISED INDIAN: Cos India is a secular country and consider material to be the sole purpose of life.
there is nothing out of the ordinary that has been shown in the film...watever they've shown is something we are already aware of...pakistan has been harbouring terrorism for long...they been perpetrating the bleed india policy for long...isi has been involved in selectively sheltering terrorists that harm india and indian interests abroad...what is new or untrue in all this..
I doubt America would have shown a movie glorifying KGB during cold war era or al qaeda now, many Hollywood movies have been banned in Korea, Japan etc for hurting sentiments hence it is understandable why the movie is banned.
There's no need to waste time watching or banning Indian movies since they are mostly junk if not plagiarized versions of movies from other countries. To the Indian trolls on the site, get your film industry to stick to original content!
maybe not all pakistanis love bollywood but indians sure do love our newspapers :-)
Mutee, all these handsome, fair-complexioned cyber-vindos are too powerful for me ;-)
dont care about ISI's negative image, nuclear battle etc etc but wait, is kareena playing a pakistani girl?, falling for an indian guy? wow, this shows how close to "reality" this movie is hahaha ..nah, not watching it :)
@Zeta: It's ok to feel threatened by superior entertainment. It's natural. Don't worry.
The troll frontier is safe, we can sleep easy.
The legend of usmanx!!!! :)
@Haris: even the ridiculous Indians couldn't make up the fact that bin laden was living in abbotabad, Pakistan near a premier Pakistan army academy. That will be too crazy and ridiculous even for Indians or maybe not...
I will love to see some Hindi movie where Indians are villains while Pakistanis are the good guys. But perhaps that's too much to ask from bigoted Indians.
they are even releasing it on 23rd march- reference to our republic day
@some one: No some movies like Kahaani and dirty picture were good. Having said that please don't judge Indians by the actions of this Saif and Kareena please! They both live in a world of their own far removed from reality. They just want money! Atleast Salman Khan does some charity.Why can't they contribute some money for the well being of humanity. Atleast some of us will be happy!
by the way, ibn-e-safi pakistani author plagiarized here was an advisor to ISI. now these plagiarists have changed the stories around and made a mess of a good novel. IMRAN become VINOD... lol.
Faisal, they are pushtun ancestry before even afghanistan. The Pashtun are an integral part of Pakistan’s establishment. It can be said there are two Pashtun countries in the world, Afghanistan and Pakistan. This ethnic group has contributed many of Pakistan’s presidents & prime ministers (Ayub Khan, Yahya Khan, Zafarullah Khan, Liaqat Ali Khan, Feroz Khan). There are more Pashtuns in Pakistan than Afghanistan and more in Karachi than Kabul. There are 15 Million Pushtun Speakers in Afghanistan and 25 Million in Pakistan!
Respectfully yours.
@G Din
Pak Men do not need semi nude ladies to be turned on....unlike the Indian (hindu) men who drool at ladies across the border!
@Sheheryar Sukhera: arre yaar so please do make movies and do portray RAW as villains. I will be so happy to see at least some aspect of of RAW...if not real, then reel at least. We in India hardly hear anything about RAW, unlike in Pakistan where the first sound a baby makes after his/her birth is "ISI" and starts crying.
@Ammar
Threatened by logic, you seem to want to take your ball and go home.
@gp65: Pataudi is in Haryana, 18 Kms ahead of Cyber City Gurgaon! Pataudi and adjoining areas population is mixed with Rajputs and Mewat Muslim Jats and a sizeable number of Gujjars. This collection of districts / tehsils does see a large number of Pakistani's visiting relatives quite frequently.
@Baba: Jesus Christ man!! U make me sick!!
@Moise: Oh yeah? Then what about the Hindu bashing Maulvi Pakistani Movie? Hindu Priest tearing away (literally) his tuft of hair and accepting Islam Movie? So those are OK but a movie which portrays two characters from India and Pakistan averting a nuclear disaster is unaceptable to Pakistan? Hate to say this but the two faced syndrome comes to mind!
Deepwater, how do you Indians know that ISI was involved? Just blaming ISI out of habit? How can India make a movie on such a blatant lie?
@Optimist:
I have read Safi, which title was copied here?
In Pakistan, Fear of spiders is called aracnaphobia, fear of tight spaces is called claustrophobia fear of Agent Vinod is called Logic
There used to be a street in Pakistan named after Agent Vinod, but it was changed because nobody crosses Agent Vinod and lives.
Pakistani special forces frogmen can swim in water, Agent Vinod can swim through land.
Agent Vinod won Pakistan song-and-dance contest using only sign language
Agent Vinod has a pakistani tiger carpet in his room. The tiger isn't dead it is just afraid to move.
IN pakistan, there is a legend that Agent Vinod has already been to Mars; that's why there are no signs of life.
In India Elders tell children ghost stories. In Pakistan, Ghosts tell Agent Vinod stories.
Agent Vinod can cut through a pakistani sword with indian butter
Death once had a near-Vinod experience
When manmohan singh pushes the big red button Agent Vinod's cell phone rings
When kayani pushes the big red button, Agent Vinod gets an invitation letter.
Agent Vinod once got bit by a king cobra, After three days of pain and agony, the cobra finally died
When Agent Vinod was asked if he believed that Pakistan was going to end in 2012 he resonded: "Depends how I'm feeling that day."
THAT is the LEGEND of AGENT VINOD.
Kareena is an ISI agent, and she helps Saif, to stop a nuclear war between 2 countries. So now is ISI defamed or the nation of Pakistan, I just don't get it
@Ammar: I wonder how Indian movies make money with 80% of the population below the poverty line. Maybe Mukesh Ambani and the Tatas and Birlas go and watch the movies some 300,000 times each.
@gp65: "So Saif does not have any Pakistani heritatge." Wrong! All Muslims are descendants of Arabs. If anyone claims Pakistani heritage (for himself or a brother Muslim) it only means, the most recognizable stopover from the origin Arabia was the most proximate Islamic republic which is Pakistan, in this instance.
@Falcon: "Growing up, that is what I have almost always wondered about is that why always the girl in such movies is from Pakistan side? " Does that imply all Pakistanis are effeminate? Another "good" reason why the ban on showing the movie in Pakistan was most appropriate! It is a direct hit below the belt on Pakistani (Muslim) masculinity!
@ Deepwater
Why Indians on ET are so concerned on internal affairs of Pakistan. Give some time to your own issues and your huge population living in poverty. When you solve that, then worry for the rest of the world. In Pakistan, its not ISI's reputation thats the big issue, but education and corruption handling are. ISI does not need to worry for its image, not at least from its image on Indians. Attacks on Shia are sad but not ISI's job. What you need to worry is slaughtering of Muslims, Christians and Sikhs by Hindu extremists in India and burning their places of worship.
Those who are denying the popularity of Indian films in Pakistan should look at Youtube stats of the vast majority of Indian videos. Statistics do not lie except to a conspiracy theorists.
Those of who blaming Indian films for being plagiarized should note that most films seen in Pakistani homes (Bollywood or Hollywood) are from illicit DVDs. That too is theft, plain and simple.
Lastly, if the ISI agency is worried about its image, it should have done something about OBL in Abbottabad, the attack on the naval station, the regular attacks on your Shia minorities, etc etc. You don't improve your image stopping films especially if you are going to watch it on pirated DVDs anyway.
@UsmanX Saif, Salman, Aamir etc. are not of "Pakistani heritage", they are of AFGHAN heritage...As a country, Afghanistan is much much older than Pakistan.
How do Pakistanis have an identity complex? You are the ones that showcase fair-complexioned Khans of Peshawar as the Ideal Indian....
@Sheheryar Sukhera: ” don’t know why Indians always portray muslims as terrorist”
Indians also made a film like "My Name is Khan", a big budget film about problems faced by "Muslims" around the world, has Pakistan made any film like that about problems faced by Hindus, Jews, Christians in Muslim world?
At least India is not making a film like "Moosa Khan"(by Shaan), it was full of bigotry and hate speech against Indians/Hindus...grow up!!
OMG! You have no freaking idea.
@Chulbul Pandey
"I am not so sure if only Bollywood movies are to blame" Sir jee, I am sorry to say I think you were born yestarday.
Pakistani society has increasingly become more rigid and “talibanized” as well From drawing room of Indians, Pakistan is a "talibanized" society.
I surely will be watching it Sorry, cant waste 180 minutes of my life..
Indian movies are full of crap anyways - they should not be shown in Pakistan since most of their films are awful plagiarized versions of films from other countries.
@usmanx: "Agent Vinod played by Saif Ali Khan, an actor of Pakistani heritage "
It is true that some Indians hail from those areas of pre-partition Indiathat are currently in Pakistan. They however chose to be part of India at the time of partition- so it is clear where their loyalties are. In any event, Saif's father was part of the royal family of Pataudi which is in present day Madhya Pradesh. His mother is from Bengal. So Saif does not have any Pakistani heritatge.
@Rashid: Cheers, Rashid Mian. I am not so sure if only Bollywood movies are to blame. Pakistani society has increasingly become more rigid and "talibanized" as well Anyways, the story line of Agent Vinod looks interesting. I surely will be watching it :)
@usmanx: "an actor of Pakistani heritage like salman khan, dilip kumar, shah rukh khan etc, plays the role of a Tamil super-agent." 1) First you love Indian cinemas and actors and then claim to hate them. Then you have an identity crisis that you don't have someone to look upto so you brain cooks up an easy exit for a deeply hurt ego - 'All Muslims are Pakistanis and all Pakistanis should only be Muslims!! Those Indian Muslims of preindependence era who preferred to stay in India instead of Pakistan are Indians... Learn to live with facts of the day and not a bygone era... Find an identity of your own.. Don't try to steal it from others..... 2) By your logic Musharraf was born in Delhi India. That should mean he was an Indian!!
Wonderful ... Pakistan is all the more secure!
@usmanx you forgot the tremendous head shaking skills of the indian agent.
@Chulbul Pandey
Sir jee I live in this country called Pakistan so I know about it better. People do watch Indian movies I am not denying it but it is loosing its popularity slowly and it has only to blame itself.
@Kaleem: correction. that will be a strong message to pak theator owners
Oh no what a great loss for the art and humanity... I don't know how the humanity will get back on its feet after this disaster.
Its sad that Indian films show Pakistan in a bad light. Most Indians dont realise that Pakistan is facing terrorism almost everyday. I have seen Pakistani news many times, and you guys never show anything positive about India, The Indian news is no different engaging in Pakistan Bashing all the time.
A good number of Indians and Pakistanis also want good relations with each other but its not possible. India and Pakistan have very deep issues which will never ever be solved.
But, you Pakistanis should know that many Indians also wish success for Pakistan.
I think pak sensor board has every right to not let release any movie they dont feel right for their audiance. nothing wrong with that, it will only support the bollywood movies in pak theatres
@UsmanX
Too good my friend! Agent Vinod should have had Sunny Deol in a special appearance to help the hero...Sunny's roar would have caused earthquakes in Pakistan and he would have brought down Pak Airforce planes by throwing stones...LOL
@UsmanX
Too good yaar...just brilliant. You have told the story of this hopeless movie in a perfect way!! Your post gave me a good laugh and in a hilarious way you have explained the stupidity of Indian Movies in general..LOL
Indians have a false belief that Pakistanis are addicted to Indian movies. Wake up Guys, no one in Pakistan watches indian movies nowadays. They have become very vulgar and storyless in recent years and lost their popularity. People who still watch indian movies are often looked down upon by their friends for being so tasteless.
after this mind boggling stunt,more Pakistanis will watch this movie.
@Usmanx
that was something really great.. :D .. you really said everything..
Since it is banned let me tell you the plot for Agent Vinod.
Agent Vinod played by Saif Ali Khan, an actor of Pakistani heritage like salman khan, dilip kumar, shah rukh khan etc, plays the role of a Tamil super-agent.
A horrible event takes place and indeed it is the dastardly enemy that is responsible. There is no context given. Pak has attacked simply because it is evil and has a genetic tendency to do evil. India is entirely innocent and has never shown anything but generosity. No historic, socio-political, geo-strategic background is provided. No mention of Kashmir, AFSPA, Amnesty International, HR violations or Indian hegemony, post-partition land-grabbing, hyderabad-junagarh-kashmir hypocrisy, Mukti bahini etc. etc. (yawn type stuff)
Agent Vinod is sent to Pakistan, where all pakistani women fall in love with his indian machismo, fair complexion and dance-numbers. The daughter of a general falls in love with our hero.
While managing a romantic triangle, Agent vinod takes on two armoured cores of pak military and single-handedly defeats the enemy with his bare hands and pelvic thrusts dance moves. A army of khans is no match for vinod khan. A hapless pak army fires a missle, vindo, simply punches it.
there is even a dance number where agend vinod dances with pak agents extras.. the pakistani love interest falls in love not only with vinod's rugged good looks but also his sense of humanity, his noble purpose and wants to run off with him to Secular Switzerland of South Asia.
The end.
@Sheheryar Sukhera: " don’t know why Indians always portray muslims as terrorist"
You realize that the producer of the movie is Saif Ali Khan - himself a Muslim. HE is also the hero of the movie? This issue is not about slandering Muslims. It is a spy thriller.
@Mutee: "The ban is significant. It gives Bollywood the message that some lines are not allowed to be crossed. Futhermore, Bollywood heavily depends upon support from Pakistani media now,"
So what is the line not allowed to be crossed - the fact that there is a Pakistani character (the heroine Kareena Kapoor) who is depicted in a good light?Also Bollywood only gets 20% of it s revenues from overseas, most revenues are from within India. Even within the 20% overseas revenue, the Pakistani revenue is less than 5%. In other words less than 1% of total revenue of a movie comes from Pakistan - so it is incorrect to say Bollywood depends on support from Pakistani media now.
Its Great Decision. Ban every single junk bollywood movies. Pakistani dramas are far better than their cheap entertainment
@Chulbul Pandey
First of all clean your head about Pakistan. Not everyone in Pakistan watches Indian movies and I believe that viewership is getting down slowly but surely and one reason is that Indian movies are getting more and more vulgar day by day. In last 15 years or so I watched only 2 Indian movies. I don't understand how people can watch them with their family members.
The funniest part is some people seem to believe that banning the film will send a "strong message to Bollywood" or that it will somehow adversely affect Bollywood. These are the same people who believed that the IPL will have to shut shop when Pakistani Players were not purchased in the auction in 2010 and cable operators in Pakistan didnt show IPL in protest. How did that turn out? Grow up guys. The only strong message that you are sending is that of your own stupidity.
@some one: "I bet it will be a mega hit in India like all other previous ones ie Gaddar, Border, etc (the list is endless)" It seems i will never stop finding factual errors in pakistani comments! Its 'Gadar' and not 'Gaddar' and 'Border' was a flop and not a mega hit.....
Ban them all.
They also censored Tere Bin Laden, which was a nice comedy...
@Baba: Why Indian movies always pickup heroin belonging to Pakistan who is desperately in love with indian hero………
A light hearted comment. No disrespect intended: I see the merit in your suggestion. Besides, we should at least use the right stereo type when depicting a Pakistani woman spy agent - wearing a full body burqa ;)
Now the movie do great in Pakistan. Thanks censor board for giving the movie free publicity.
Why is ISI so sensitive? Not that its been doing great lately.
@Sheheryar Sukhera: "What if i make a movie and portray RAW as the only Intelligence Agency supporting terrorists all over the world?How would you feel about it ???"
The movie DOES NOT show ISI as an agency supporting terrorists. It shows Kareena as an ISI agent working with Saif who is an Indian agent to stop a nuclear blackmail.
@Sheheryar Sukhera: Well, there was a ban on Indian movies in Pakistan for the longest time. How did that work for you guys? My point was that the movie is going to reach every single house in Pakistan despite the ban and you know it very well too. As far as piracy is concerned, it is common knowledge that it exists on both sides of the border. What is your point? Besides, why would I be mad about Pakistanis banning that movie? It's not like I am losing any distribution rights money :) PS. Yeah, I am an Indian through and through. What does that have to do with my comment?
@Mutee: Mr. Mutee, the ban is sheer symbolic. If the intent is to prevent the locals from watching the movie, the ban is a non-starter, to say the least. If you still think that the ban would be effective due to the small size of your country, well... look what happened to the similar bans in the past when the population was even smaller. Also, Bollywood relying heavily on Pakistani Media? Really?
@some one: "f AV is a Pakistan bashing film"
It is not. The key action hap[pens in Russia, South Africa, Monaco etc. Agent Vinod is a spy. And this movie is a spy thriller, so it simply has some incidental references to ISI. By no means is ISI or Pakistan the main thrust of the story.
@PakiKaka: Leave all the other flims, just tell me if you have seen AV? I haven't yet.
Chulbul Pandey: The ban is significant. It gives Bollywood the message that some lines are not allowed to be crossed. Futhermore, Bollywood heavily depends upon support from Pakistani media now, thanks to "information age" being so totally fragmented in its foundation. Now no one can promote the film or play the songs hence the film won't reach the amount of people you propose.
The government actually allows Pakistan's love for Hindi, in the 80s it was used as a political move now its just a tradition/business decision. In a small country like Pakistan, they can easily eradicate the Bollywood influence because Internet is not just viral, it is also fragile.
@Overseas Paki: Overseas Paki bro... the funny thing is whenever bollywood makes an anti Pakistan film, they very stupidly say that oh this is not anti pakistan it's about showing human emotions and how war is bad... whereas when you see the movie it shows massive mudslinging against Pakistan... Saif's interview is nothing different... good move by Pakistan... fair enough
And btw,those people who are saying that Saif has been trying to work with Pakistan.Let me remind you that if you have seen the trailers of this movie.All the villainous characters are named as Muslims.I guess if they've shown Saif and Kareena from RAW and ISI respectively .. trying to fight against terrorism.They should've atleast changed the names of characters.
Mr.Chulbul Pandey.I think you're an Indian.That's why you're mad about it.What if i make a movie and portray RAW as the only Intelligence Agency supporting terrorists all over the world?How would you feel about it ??? As long as the piracy is concerned ... i think India hasn't controlled the piracy as well.So if there are some people who likes to go for pirated DVD's ... No one can do anything about them.It's their own choice.
@Abdul Rahman Khan:
india gave mfn to pakistan 16 years back...so dont try to show that pakistan has done some favour....moreover...there is no relation between mfn to india and this movie....govt of india does not produce or direct movies...its a private affair
This ban will meet the same fate as the ban on Porn websites in Pakistan :) The movie will make it to Pakistani house holds no matter what the authorities do to prevent it. Lawmen in Pakistan seriously undermine the love for Indian movies in Pakistan as well as the caliber of digital content pirates.
Bans like these are totally worthless in the information age.
Well,i think it's a good decision.Because i was following the fan page on facebook.I've seen the trailers.All the villainous characters are named after Muslims.Like Kazaan,Huzefa and some others.I don't know why Indians always portray muslims as terrorists.I knew it since the day i saw the trailer that the censor board won't give clearance certificate to AV ... and i'm seriously happy and proud of our censor board.Entertainment has no boundaries .. but we should understand the fact that we have to think about our self respect first.We're not terrorists.So we shouldn't allow anyone to portray a totally negative image of Pakistanis and Muslims.
Why Indian movies always pickup heroin belonging to Pakistan who is desperately in love with indian hero..........They should smell coffee and wake up........If they need to see the reality then ask from Indian Girls, and it is the other way around.
Israel is Real - Saif Ali Khan
Great Job Done, Pakistan.
Remember, we have given india 'most- favoured-nation' status and yet their people continue to bash pakistanin one way or the other. India can change the policy (to hoodwink the world viz-a-viz its policy towards pakistan) but not the heart. One will find anti-pakistan stance at all public and private levels in indian policy.
Pakistanis are now so sensitive that they cant watch a movie?
@gd: lolz..I understand how that works man. Growing up, that is what I have almost always wondered about is that why always the girl in such movies is from Pakistan side? How about the other way around?
2 Nation Theory: . "Your Heroes are our Villains and Our Heroes are your Villain" . . BTW Agent Vinod is copy of our brilliant Spy Writer IBNE-e-SAFI (IMRAN SERIES). The name Imran is changed to Vinod in Hindi translations by biased Indians translaters!!!!!!
Good move. The film was to released on 23rd March too. That is what they get for shedding the cloak of subtlety.
Though, I have not seen the film and doesnot know too much about its content, however, after looking at the poster of the movie and costume of Ms. Karina, I think Pakistan has banned the film because it depicts a women as Pakistani agent, which deeply hurts some people in Pakistan, hahahahahahah
Indian propaganda machinery exemplified.
Good, ban them all!!!!
Good
this film tries to spread love between india and pakistan, here saif played role of a india agent and karina as pakistani agent fighting against a common enemy .No reason for banding this film!!
I saw Saif's interview during the Indo-Pak match, he said this flims not a Pakistan bash but rather the two agents from India and Pak (Saif is playing agent from India and Kareena from Pak) work together to avoid a global nuclear disaster etc. If that's the case, then I think the ban in Pakistan stupid, pathetic and nothing more then being a non-sense. I will watch the movie on the big screen outside Pakistan. There are so many movies that have western spy agents and I have never heard of them being banned!
good Decision
Every country puts its interests and public sentiments first. Good decision, I suggest that they should ban bollywood movies for 3 months in protest of movies like these. That will give them a strong message.
@some one:
there have been many pakistan bashing movies which have been a flop...sadly u dunno them...
@topic
gud move by pakistan...
Fair deal. Generally no country allows films from other nations depicting a different view of it's security agencies and national policies. India would not have allowed a similar film from Pakistan.
If AV is a Pakistan bashing film, I bet it will be a mega hit in India like all other previous ones ie Gaddar, Border, etc (the list is endless). I wonder why politicians say the indian masses and the pakistani masses are friends...the comments of indians on ET show otherwise. Recipe for a successful bollywood movie- show Pakistan and Pakistanis as villians...
Well done! It is a ridiculous premise for a film and only something ridiculous an indian could have made up
Good!
I dont know if it is the right decision. There are many movies in Hollywood that portray MI6 or KGB in a villianous roles, and I think people accept them in a domain of that fiction created by the characters and the theme. Nothing to take it serious.