Now the centre of new controversy after the Pahalgam terror attack, the current film in which Fawad Khan and Vaani Kapoor are set to star is Abir Gulaal. Now with the chorus of oppositions to not watch this film growing louder, The songs taken from Abir Gulaal off YouTube India as well; an indicator of how these political tensions affects cultural projects.
Expected to make a splash as a high-profile, cross-border collaboration, the Pakistani actor Fawad Khan was at the core of this released film. But the Pahalgam attack, in which scores of tourists were killed, has set off a huge outcry and heightened voices charged at the time to sever all cultural connections with Pakistan.
YouTube Song Removal
The creators of Abir Gulaal have taken two of their songs, “Khudaya Ishq” and “Angreji Rangrasiya,” off from YouTube India due to its extreme sensitivity. They were released as promotion material for a film which isn’t even in theatres yet, and both promotional YouTube channels as well as the music label share are no longer hosting them
Bigger picture and implications
It is an indicator of the huge pressure from all sides, followed by the social media (a lot of capitalistic voices also spoke against Indian artists working with Pakistani talent since terror attack). The incident also bares with the echoes that indeed influence fate of art.
The Federation of Western India Cine Employees (FWICE), which is one of the top film industry bodies — has stated its uncompromised resolution against any Pakistan artist collaboration. This aggravates the situation for Abir Gulaal and other possible cross-border projects.
The whole incident of Abir Gulaal has come to reflect what a delicate dance art, politics and national sentiment really make. Whilst in general films can be seen trying to further cultural exchange and mutual respectim,they become easy targets when political divisions and national sentiment run high. By taking down those tracks it acts as a painful slap in the face to the fact that directing is near and turbulent waters.
As well this is a worrying sign of how it could impact the film industry in the long run. The industry depends on unique background and international relating, controversial scenes could thwart further projects and limit creative possibilities for artists.
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Fragrance Uncertainty about the Film
Abir Gulaal is still haunting the future. It was going to be released, but there is more and more signs a lot of censorship or not going to screen it in India. The reality is strong signalling about the difficulties in developing world audiences through the politics of production and distribution, and much of the decision-making around some elements of film releases/ artistic expression is deeply influenced by public opinion.
