Neerja, the biopic of the heroic air hostess Neerja Bhanot, portrayed by Sonam Kapoor was released in India on 19th February 2016, but was banned in Pakistan for portraying the country in poor light.
Keeping in mind, that avid movie watchers, will always find ways, sometimes even out of their reach to watch a film and Sonam Kapoor has just experienced this first hand.
Kapoor conducted a live session with fans on Bollywood Hungama, where she says she discovered that her latest film Neerja, banned here for portraying Pakistan in a negative light, has “done well in [the country].”
Furthermore, at a press conference, repoted by Indian Express, Sonam expressed her disappointment and said, “The film has not released officially there, but it is very sad that this has happened. Today I was doing a live chat and there are several of my fans who are from Pakistan… Since my films have done well in Pakistan, they’re all watching pirated copies of the film over there.”
Neerja is a story about Neerja Bhanot, who sacrificed her life to save passengers on board the hijacked Pan Am flight 73 in September 1986. Sonam, who plays the role, put down the ban to Pak-India politics: “I can’t understand it, but I think this is all politics between both sides. I had said this before, there is no place for politics in art and sports and unfortunately that’s what has happened,” she said.
Sonam also added, “It is very sad that it’s not released in Pakistan, because more than 60 years ago, we were the same country. When I was in boarding school, Indians and Pakistanis would always hang out. We look similar, have a similar culture… Except for cricket matches, we were always together. I can’t understand the reason why it’s not released there, it can’t be that complicated.”
