Senior Punjab Minister Maryam Aurangzeb has called the decision to ban the Bollywood film Dangal in Pakistan a mistake. She said that the tense relationship between Pakistan and India has always affected art and artists, dividing them across borders.
In May this year, political tensions between the two countries once again brought back bans that had been lifted in 2023 after a long gap. Now, once again, Pakistani artists and content are not allowed in India. However, in the past too, some Indian films were banned in Pakistan, and one of them was Dangal.
Bollywood superstar Aamir Khan’s film Dangal was released on 23 December 2016 and has earned over 2,000 crore rupees worldwide at the box office.
Directed by Nitesh Tiwari, this biographical sports drama tells the story of a wrestler and his two daughters who struggle to succeed in the world of wrestling.
Aamir Khan once said in an interview that Dangal was not released in Pakistan because the Pakistani censor board had demanded the removal of the Indian flag and national anthem from the film. He refused to accept these cuts.
In the movie’s ending scene, when Geeta Phogat wins the wrestling match, the Indian anthem is played, and the national flag is raised.
Recently, Maryam Aurangzeb appeared on Ahmed Ali Butt’s podcast, where she talked about many topics, including the Dangal ban.
When Ahmed Ali Butt asked her about something she regrets doing, she replied that banning Dangal was one such thing.
When asked why, Maryam Aurangzeb explained that she had not even watched the film at that time. She had just become the Federal Minister for Information and Broadcasting. During a meeting with the censor board, they presented their reasons for banning the film, and without thinking deeply, she signed off on the ban.
She said that Dangal was already banned when she joined and the decision was made based on a few concerns. Later, when she watched the film about a year and a half later, she realized that banning it was the wrong decision.
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