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‘Raees’ director Rahul Dholakia believes that India failed to give Mahira Khan the due respect and honour as an artist that she deserved.
So sweet ! Somewhere I feel We have wronged her. our people forgot that she is an artist, not the enemy ! we took away her right as an actor ! Unfair. @TheMahiraKhan you are wonderful and thank you for being a part of #Raees https://t.co/pFMutxN1qq
— rahul dholakia (@rahuldholakia) December 15, 2017
In an interview, he admitted that “India has wronged Mahira Khan”. The Raees actress was banned from attending the promotional activities for the film after a group of extremists imposed a ban on Pakistani artistes from working in India.
Read more: Mahira Khan and Saba Qamar win at Masala Awards in Dubai
He shared the link to her interview on Twitter on Friday, and commented, “Somewhere I feel we have wronged her. Our people forgot that she is an artist, not the enemy! We took away her right as an actor! Unfair. Mahira Khan, you are wonderful and thank you for being a part of Raees.”
Recently Mahira Khan was in Dubai for the Masala Awards and while talking to the media she said, she was given a warm welcome by all her co-stars.
She said, “Whether it was Shah Rukh Khan or Rahul or Ritesh Batra or Farhan Akhtar, they all have been so amazing. At the end of the day, it’s about films, which is bigger than all of us combined. The film needed to be released. The film had to do well. They were all amazing. They still are.”
Read more: Mahira Khan counts herself lucky for never being harassed
A warm message came from the director after a year. However, Mahira Khan remained very unfortunate with her first Bollywood venture.
First, she was barred from attending the promotional event in India and later the movie was banned from release in Pakistan.
The reason cited by the authorities was, “the content undermines Islam, and a specific religious sect, [while also] portraying Muslims as criminals, wanted persons and terrorists.”