Shah Rukh Khan, Karan Johar face threat for casting Pakistani actors in their films

In a worse turn of events, Indian nationalist party Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) has now given a "direct threat" to Bollywood stars Shah Rukh Khan and Karan Johar for casting Pakistani actors in their films.

According to Indian Express, Shalini Thackeray, general secretary of MNS Chitrapat Karamchari Sena, said, “It is not a veiled threat. It’s a direct threat to producers like SRK and Karan Johar who take Pakistani actors in their movies."

He added, "You can’t find Indian actors for your films? In this 125 crore Indian population, can’t you find a single Indian actor to cast in your films that you import people from a place like Pakistan, a country with which we all are facing a problem."

Referring specifically to Shah Rukh Khan's upcoming film Raees alongside Mahira Khan and Karan Johar's Ae Dil Hai Mushkil with cameo's of Fawad Khan and Imran Khan, Thackeray plans to cease the release of these films in India. "It’s not a veiled threat but a direct threat. We will not allow the release of these movies here.”

However, keeping in mind the forthcoming release dates of the two films, if the Bolly stars do oblige in the future, will the consequences of Raees and ADHM still be the same?

"That’s for them to decide what they should be doing with their films that has Pakistani actors. We will not allow films with Pakistani’s actors to be released here in Maharashtra. We are sending letters to all producers and would request them to cooperate with us, which we hope they will in Maharashtra. If they don’t, we will stop the shoot wherever Pakistani actors are involved."

This threat comes after the recent Uri attack in Kashmir which killed 17 Indian soldiers. The incident caused furor among the MNS party and they issued a 48-hour notice to all Pakistani artistes to leave India and abandon all projects.

The 'abandon ship' move from the party has led to a mixed response by Indians who took to Twitter to express their sentiments.

Some are staggered about the whole ordeal.

While others are openly boycotting Pakistani artistes and their films in India.