Bollywood director Kabir Khan, who was in Karachi to attend a marketing seminar recently, had to face shoe-wielding angry protesters at Karachi airport on his departure earlier today.
The ‘Phantom’ director, who arrived at Karachi airport to leave for Lahore, was surrounded by protesters who not only shouted anti-India and pro-Pakistan slogans but also questioned Kabir Khan on why he did not make similar movies about the Indian intelligence agency Research and Analysis Wing (RAW) activities in Pakistan.
“You people send Jhadav and kill hundreds here, why don’t you make a movie about it,” a protester asked the Phantom director.
Another shoe-wielding protester chased Khan to the departure lounge warning the director about “Indian conspiracies against Pakistan army”.
However, Khan did not react and proceeded towards the lounge.
Kabir whose ”Bajrangi Bhaijaan’ received an overwhelmingly warm response in Pakistan, came under fire for his other venture ‘Phantom’ for its anti-Pakistan content and a Saif Ali Khan dialogue ‘Ghar me Ghuss Ke Marenge‘.
Starring Saif Ali Khan and Katrina Kaif, ‘Phantom’ revolved around the tragic November 26 Mumbai attacks at the Taj Hotel, which killed at least 166 people. The film is set five years after the attacks, when a retired army officer leads a mission to seek out and kill the terror masterminds including Jamaat-ud-Dawa (JuD) chief Hafiz Saeed.
The film, which was based on the novel ‘Mumbai Avengers’ by S. Hussain Zaidi, was banned by the Lahore High Court over Hafiz Saeed’s petition..
Saif Ali Khan’s subsequent statement, saying that he has “lost faith in Pakistan”, caused an uproar in Pakistan.
Kabir, during the MARCON 2016 seminar in Karachi, said he was a firm believer in the secular fabric of India and in friendship between India and Pakistan, which led to the making of Bajrangi Bhaijaan.
About Phantom, he said it was a misrepresented film largely because of wrong marketing, adding that he didn’t see his film as a criticism of a country but some bad elements who “are everywhere”.
