Bollywood 'shocked' over Pakistan's ban on 'Baby'

Producer Bhushan Kumar says film is 'not talking about a country, only talking about terrorism'

MUMBAI: The team behind Bollywood film Baby that stars Akshay Kumar is in a state of shock over the film's ban in Pakistan.

While producer Bhushan Kumar is still wondering why, actor Anupam Kher emphasised the need to move beyond borders and look at the universal problem of terrorism.

"The film is about anti-terrorism. Sometimes it is important to go beyond territories and understand who is the enemy -- is it a country or a bunch of people?" Kher told IANS over phone from Mumbai.

Confirming the ban, Bhushan said: "Yes, we got a confirmation from my distributor that it has been banned in Pakistan. I don't know why this happened. If you watch the film, you will know we are not talking about a country, we are only talking about terrorism."

A representative of the film's distributor, Everready Pictures, shared the news about the film being banned "because it portrays a negative image of Muslims and the negative characters in the film also have Muslim names".



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Bhushan supported Anupam's stance on the film being against evil and not any country or religion.

"We are trying to figure out what needs to be done," Bhushan told IANS.

Directed by Neeraj Pandey, the movie revolves around an undercover unit, formed to keep an eye on the movements of terrorist groups and to quash their plans to disrupt peace and harmony.

The film also stars Rana Daggubati, Danny Denzongpa and Taapsee Pannu and was released in India on Friday.

The film also features Pakistani actor Mikaal Zulfiqar and Rasheed Naz.

"I feel that it is a pity that the film has been banned even after the fact that it has Pakistani actors in it,” Anupam Kher, who plays one of the key roles in the film, said, adding that he felt the film should have reached the people.

"Today there is no particular country that is to be blamed for terrorism. It is all over the world. I feel it should have been shown as it is about a situation, which needs to be addressed. The ban is an official stance, which is necessarily not looking into the problem of the people," Kher added.

After the ban, Anupam Kher seeks reconsideration of the decision. He said, "Maybe if they send it to a revising committee I am hopeful that something will be done as people want to see the movie and they will watch the movie anyhow after one week."