Diljit Dosanjh is currently in the middle of a controversy for working with Pakistani actress Hania Aamir in his movie ‘Sardaar Ji 3’. The backlash comes amid the tensions between India and Pakistan post the Pahalgam attack. Even though the makers clarified that they shot Sardaar Ji 3 with Hania before the Pahalgam attack, both Diljit and the filmmakers have been receiving backlash.
The film is scheduled to release overseas on June 27, but its release in India has been put on hold for now, reports say. Diljit dropped the trailer on Instagram, while the trailer has been uploaded to YouTube, it appears to be geo-blocked in India.
The film also stars Neeru Bajwa in an important role. The controversy grew further when people noticed that Neeru Bajwa had removed all posts related to the film from her Instagram profile. The move has led to speculation that she may be distancing herself from the film.
A post on Reddit’s page called ‘Lollywoodspace’ also claimed that Neeru has not only deleted all posts related to the film but has also unfollowed Hania Aamir. Although this claim has not been confirmed, her latest Instagram post shows her promoting her upcoming film ‘Son of Sardaar 2’, which has fuelled these speculations.
All India Cine Workers Association (AICWA) wrote a strongly worded letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, calling for immediate and stringent action against Diljit. It further urged the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) to deny certification to all of Diljit’s future film projects. The association warned of legal action against any production house or individual who chooses to work with the actor moving forward.
In an interview with BBC Asian Network, Diljit broke his silence, saying the film was shot before the geopolitical tensions escalated and clarified that the decision to release the film only overseas was made by the producers to avoid further complications.
“Jab yeh film bani thi tab situation sab theek tha. We shot this in Feb and then everything was fine larified that the decision to release the film only overseas was made by the producers to avoid further complications. Uske baad, bhut saari badi cheezen humare haath mein nahi hai. Toh producers ne decide kiya ki film obviously ab India toh nahi lagegi, toh overseas release karte hain. Toh producers ka bahut paisa laga hua hai aur jab yeh film bann rahi thi tab aisa kuch tha nahi. (When this film was made, everything was fine. We shot it in February and things were okay back then. After that, a lot of big things happened that are beyond our control. So the producers decided that the film obviously won’t be released in India now, so they’ll release it overseas. The producers have invested a lot of money, and when the film was being made, nothing like this was happening).”
‘Sardar Ji 3’ is a horror-comedy, directed by Amar Hundal and its story is based in the UK. In this, Diljit and Hania play ghost hunters who investigate the strange events happening in a haunted mansion.
