Amid escalating tensions between India and Pakistan, Pakistani actors have been quietly removed from Bollywood film posters featured on major music streaming platforms.
Popular Pakistani stars Mahira Khan and Fawad Khan are no longer visible on the promotional artwork for their respective Hindi films Raees and Kapoor & Sons on platforms like Spotify and YouTube Music. This change follows a similar edit involving actress Mawra Hocane, who was recently edited out of the album covers for Sanam Teri Kasam.
The move appears to be part of a broader trend aimed at minimizing the visibility of Pakistani artists in Indian entertainment content during the ongoing geopolitical conflict.
Notably, the Raees album artwork, which previously showcased both Shah Rukh Khan and Mahira Khan, now displays only Shah Rukh Khan. Similarly, the Kapoor & Sons song Buddhu Sa Mann, which features Fawad Khan alongside Sidharth Malhotra and Alia Bhatt, is currently blocked on YouTube in India. The message displayed reads, “Video unavailable. The uploader has not made this video available in your country.” Additionally, Fawad’s image has been removed from the song’s artwork on streaming apps.
These changes underline the growing backlash and restrictions faced by Pakistani talent in Indian media amid worsening cross-border relations.
These initiatives by Indian media are strongly criticized by Pakistani audience calling it a below the belt action from Bollywood. Many are also condemning India media for their low mentality, suggesting Indian media ‘be mature.’
It is pertinent to note that amid these cross border tensions, Fawad Khan upcoming movie ‘Abir Gulaal’ is aso pending to release. Additionally, some reports suggest that Hania Aamir has also removed from Punjabi film ‘Sardar gee 3’.
