Karan Johar on Ae Dil Hai Mushkil row: 'Country comes first but ban is unfair to my crew'

Karan Johar has finally broken his silence on the Pakistani actors ban, with regard to Fawad Khan in his upcoming film Ae Dil Hai Mushkil.  The director, in his defence that the film should be released, has claimed that from now on he will not cast Pakistani artistes. “There’s been some talk about why I’ve been silent over the past few weeks. I need to say this. Nothing else matters to me but the country. The climate and circumstances were different when I shot Ae Dil Hai Mushkil, in September to December last year. There were efforts made by our government to make peace with our neighboring. I respected the sentiments then and I respect the sentiments of the country now_,”_ he said.  Johar adds, “But it’s not fair to scrap the film now. I respect the country’s sentiment today. I condemn terror and have immense respect for the Army. But to ban the film is unfair to my crew.” “I remained silent as I was hurt, and I had a deep sense of pain. I was hurt for being called anti-national. For me my country comes first. I have always felt the best way to spread patriotism is through love. And I try to do that with my cinema. I understand the current sentiment because I feel the same. With that same energy, I urge  you to understand that there are over 300 plus Indian people on my crew who have paid with blood, sweat and tears for my film. This is unfair to them. Of course, I condemn any form of terrorism, especially the kind the affects my people, my country. In the future, I will not cast Pakistani artistes,” he said. Karan Johar’s video, in which he can be seen almost groveling, comes as a response to the veiled threats by MNS of vandalising the theatres that will screen Ae Dil Hai Mushkil. The Indian Motion Picture Producers Association (IMPPA) and the Cinema Owners and Exhibitors Association of India (COAEI) have also banned Pakistani artistes from appearing in Indian films, as a response to the Uri attacks that occured on 18 September. Watch Karan Johar’s video here: