Team ‘Baby’ shocked over Pakistan ban

Actor Anupam Kher says it is a ‘pity’ that Pakistanis will be deprived of a film that features local actors

MUMBAI: The team of Akshay Kumar-starrer Baby is shocked 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 into the universal problem of terrorism.

“The film is about anti-terrorism. Sometimes, it is important to go beyond territories and understand who the enemy is – is it a country or a bunch of people?” Anupam said.  Confirming the ban, Bhushan said: “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.”

Bhushan supported Anupam’s stance on the film being against the evil and not any country or religion.  “I don’t know why it was banned there, and we fail to understand that. We are confused because the film is about anti-terrorism. It is totally against terrorism, not against any country. We are trying to figure out what needs to be done,” he said.



The film also features actor Mikaal Zulfiqar and Rasheed Naz.  Anupam, who plays one of the key roles in the film, says the ban is a ‘pity’ and feels the film should have reached the people.  “I feel that it is a pity that the film has been banned even after the fact that it has Pakistani actors in that. In fact, Rasheed has done a similar role in Khuda Kay Liye.”

“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,” Anupam added.

Anupam also brought up the case of terror attack on a school in a Peshawar school, which claimed 148 lives, including 132 schoolchildren.  “Pakistan is one country that has suffered equally, badly or more due to terrorism like Peshawar attack on the innocent school children. So, a country which is suffering from barbaric act of terrorism should have gone beyond,” Anupam said.

Anupam 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.”  Bhushan said, “We are figuring out what next step needs to be taken.”

Directed by Neeraj Pandey, the movie revolves around an undercover unit, formed to keep an eye on the movements of terrorist groups and to nix their plans to disrupt peace and harmony. The film also stars Rana Daggubati, Danny Denzongpa and Taapsee Pannu and has been released in India, Friday.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 25^th, 2015.

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