Filmmaker
Mahesh
Bhatt,
whose
latest
production
Begum
Jaan
-
set
against
the
backdrop
of
India's
Partition
in
1947
-
won't
release
in
Pakistan,
wishes
the
censor
board
in
the
neighbouring
country
would
have
given
it
a
watch.
"I
did
not
look
at
Pakistan
just
as
a
market
to
sell
my
wares.
When
'Begum
Jaan'
was
not
viewed
by
their
censor
board,
I
was
ridiculed
by
some
of
my
close
associates.
That
did
hurt.
I
wish
they
had
given
my
film
a
viewing
and
then
taken
this
decision
of
not
granting
the
permission
to
be
screened
in
Pakistan," Bhatt
told
IANS
on
social
media.
"I
was
told
by
someone
in
the
censor
board
to
pitch
the
question
to
the
Ministry
of
Information,
Broadcasting
&
National
Heritage
which
allows
the
import
of
foreign
films
since
the
board
only
previews
the
product
as
per
censor
code.
I
was
told
that
the
objection
to
import
the
film
came
from
them,"
he
added.
The
film,
starring
Vidya
Balan,
tells
the
story
of
survival
and
the
sex
workers
community
apart
from
Partition.
When
IANS
asked
Mobashir
Hasan,
Pakistan's
Central
Board
of
Film
Censors
(CBFC)
head,
if
it
is
true
that
Pakistan
doesn't
import
Indian
films
based
on
Partition,
he
said:
"Please
ask
the
distributors.
They
import
the
films
and
not
the
government."
A
key
distributor
of
Indian
films
in
Pakistan
-
Satish
Anand,
head
honcho
of
Eveready
Group
of
Companies
-
told
IANS
on
social
media:
"Let's
put
it
this
way
that
this
project
in
present
day
will
not
reach
the
screens.
India-Pakistan...
for
the
present
policies
are
fluid."
Was
he
distributing
it?
"Not
at
all.
It
was
very
clear
this
content
will
not
be
acceptable
to
this
market.
People
have
liked
the
trailer,
I
do
hope
the
film
does
very
well
worldwide."
Begum
Jaan,
which
marks
Bengali
director
Srijit
Mukherji's
directorial
debut
in
Hindi
films,
is
set
to
hit
the
Indian
screens
on
Friday.