Shoot On Sight banned in Pakistan- Article

 

"Yes, they've banned my film Shoot On Sight because Mikaal, who plays a closet-terrorist, is from Pakistan," says Mundhra, "In a dialogue between Naseeruddin Shah and Om Puri, it is revealed that the young terrorist (played by Mikaal) is from Pakistan. The Pakistanis didn't like it."

Mundhra's Shoot On Sight is based on the July 2007 London bombings. The film unfolds the turmoil in the life of Tariq Ali (Naseeruddin), a Muslim police officer at Scotland Yard, who is asked to track down suspected suicide bombers involved in the bombings.

But what has really surprised the director is that an equally hard hitting film Shoaib Mansoor's Khuda Kay Liye was released without any issue.

"They had Pakistani actors in Pakistan playing fundamentalists. The only thing is, they didn't show any terrorism. They showed the fundamentalism. But not the terrorist violence. 'Shoot On Sight' doesn't spare the audience the violent underbelly of fundamentalism. The Pakistanis didn't like that," he said, "I remember I was in Karachi some years ago when my film 'Bawandar' was selected for the first international film festival. While sightseeing in Karachi my hosts pointed out a huge bungalow saying, 'Yeh Dawood (Ibrahim) ka bungalow hai.'

Hill Road Media

Friday, September 19, 2008