‘Collaboration, not bans key to cross-cultural understanding’

New Delhi, March 4: Amid the ongoing debate on whether Pakistani artistes should be allowed to work in Bollywood or not, British-Pakistani actor Alyy Khan feels “bans of any ture are never a good idea”. He says the key to more understanding and tolerance lies in more collaborative work. The actor, who has extensively worked in India, pointed out the irony of how art connects different cultures, but also sometimes ends up suffering due to political tensions between countries.  The calls for banning Pakistani talent from working in Hindi film industry first surfaced in 2016 when cross-border India-Pakistan tension spilled over into the entertainment world, with some Indian political outfits imposing a ban on Pakistanis and a few Pakistani theatres pulling down Indian movies from their big screens. The ban came after the September 18 terror attack that killed 19 Indian soldiers in Uri in Jammu and Kashmir. The issue resurfaced last month when Union Minister Babul Supriyo said that Pakistani singer Rahat Fateh Ali Khan’s voice in the song “Ishtehaar” in the Bollywood film “Welcome to New York” must be dubbed by someone else. Supriyo also demanded a ban on Pakistani artistes in Bollywood. (IANS)

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