Ali Zafar appeals against Pak ban
Ali Zafar is disappointed despite Tere Bin Laden getting off to an encouraging start. His film will not open in 15 theatres across Pakistan as planned. It's been banned there despite conciliatory attempts of dropping Laden from the title.
"In a bid to check piracy, a film is screened in Pakistan for the censors days before the release. It was viewed on Monday and got the thumbs down. A second committee reviewed it and though a majority of the members liked it, it was not passed on security grounds," informs Zafar, who was also distributing the film in Pakistan with a partner.
He filed an appeal with the appellate tribunal and on Friday, even as the film opened across the globe, censors in Pakistan were reviewing it for a third time. At the time of going to press, decision was still pending from across the border but Zafar was optimistic. "There's a 50 per cent chance that it will get the go-ahead, given the positive buzz from the first night showing in UAE. People there were shocked by the ban because there's nothing objectionable in the film," Zafar reasons.
He insists that in Pakistan too, people, particularly those in the media, have not responded well to the verdict since it was a much-anticipated movie about Pakistan. "If anything, it's made me a bigger star there," says the singer-turned-actor who admits to getting a lot of offers from Bollywood. But he says he'll focus on them only after his promotional activity on Tere Bin Laden winds up. Buzz is that he's planning to shift to Mumbai and make a career in Bollywood.
"A lot of quotes have been attributed to me, even though I never made them," he retorts. "Like every artiste, I'm a nomad and will go anywhere work takes me. But my first home will always be Lahore."
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