Bollywood superstar Aamir Khan’s Dangal is the highest-grossing Indian film, having earned ₹2,000 crore at the global box office. A significant portion of the film’s earnings came from its release in China. During his appearance on Rajat Sharma’s Aap Ki Adalat, Aamir revealed that he had rejected the film’s release in Pakistan after their censor board demanded the removal of the Indian flag and national anthem. (Also Read: Aamir Khan says it is his ‘dream to make Mahabharat’, wonders if he’ll ‘have a role in it to play’)
Aamir Khan recalls why he rejected Dangal’s release in Pakistan
Aamir explained that, historically, the censor board restricted filmmakers from directly referring to certain countries. They were instructed to use terms like “neighbouring country” instead. He pointed out that his film Sarfarosh was the first Indian film to openly mention both Pakistan and ISIS. Despite initial concerns from director John Mathew Matthan that the censor board would reject it, Aamir was confident they could justify the inclusion.
He further addressed why Dangal was not released in Pakistan and said, “After Sarfarosh, I got a lot of negative comments from Pakistan about what we were showing about them. When Dangal came into theatres, Disney was one of the producers, and they presented the film. They said that we have got a reaction from Pakistan’s censor board and they have asked us, ‘Geeta Phogat ke jeetne par jo tiranga upar jaata hai aur humara rashtra gaan bajta hai, toh aap yeh dono nikal dijiye or we’ll not pass the film’ (remove the Indian tricolour and national anthem that comes after Geeta Phogat’s win or we’ll not pass the film).”
Aamir added, “So I told Disney in just one second that our film will not release in Pakistan. So they said, our business will be affected, and we will suffer a loss. I said, Jo humse kahega humara Indian flag nikal do aur humara national anthem nikal do, unse mujhe matlab hi nahi hai (Anyone who tells us to remove our Indian flag and national anthem — I have nothing to do with them). I don’t want that business.”
About Dangal
The biographical sports drama, directed by Nitesh Tiwari, featured Aamir as Mahavir Singh Phogat, an amateur wrestler who trains his daughters Geeta Phogat and Babita Kumari Phogat to become India’s first world-class female wrestlers. Fatima Sana Shaikh and Sanya Malhotra portrayed the adult versions of the Phogat sisters, while Zaira Wasim and Suhani Bhatnagar played their younger versions. Sakshi Tanwar played their mother. The film collected ₹387 crore in India and ₹2,070.3 crore worldwide at the box office.
Meanwhile, Aamir is now gearing up for the release of his upcoming film Sitaare Zameen Par, a spiritual sequel to his 2007 hit Taare Zameen Par. The film also stars Genelia D’Souza in the lead role and is scheduled to release in theatres on 21 June.
