Overview

• The Indian government has barred the release of the Bollywood film 'Abir Gulaal,' starring Pakistani actor Fawad Khan, following a deadly terror attack in Kashmir's Pahalgam region that killed 26 people.
• Veteran lyricist Javed Akhtar stated that Pakistani artists should not be allowed to work in India at this time, citing a lack of reciprocity in cultural exchanges between the two nations.
• Akhtar emphasized that while India has warmly welcomed Pakistani artists like Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan and Faiz Ahmad Faiz, Indian icons such as Lata Mangeshkar were systematically blocked from performing in Pakistan.
• He noted that the current lack of warmth in India-Pakistan ties, exacerbated by the recent attack, makes collaboration inadvisable for the foreseeable future.
• Akhtar also argued that banning Pakistani artists could inadvertently serve the interests of Pakistan's military and fundamentalist groups, who favor greater distance between the two countries.