Published 05 Sep, 2018 12:07pm

Raees director Rahul Dholakia is talking about India's ban on Pakistani actors again

As entries pour in from around the world for the 91st Academy Awards' Best Film In A Foreign Language category, it's been revealed that Norway has put forward Pakistani-Norwegian filmmaker Iram Haq's What Will People Say as their submission.

Raees director Rahul Dholakia on Twitter celebrated the film as an example of cinema transcending borders, pointing out that the Norwegian film tells the story of a Pakistani teenager and stars Indian actors.

He lamented that borders affected cultural collaboration in India. Case in point: his very own Raees that starred Mahira Khan. While Khan was able to act in the film, she was kept from participating in the film's promotions. Additionally, Raees was banned in Pakistan because the censor board believe that the film "undermines Islam, and a specific religious sect, [while also] portraying Muslims as criminals, wanted persons and terrorists."

Read more: India has wronged Mahira Khan, says Rahul Dholakia

What Will People Say is the story of 16-year-old who is forced to uproot her life from Norway and settle down in her parents' homeland Pakistan. Indian actors Adil Hussain and Sheeba Chaddha play her father and aunt respectively. This is the second film from Iram Haq to be sent to the Oscars from Norway.

Neither Pakistan nor India has announced its submission to the 91st Academy Awards.

Read Comments