MUMBAI: Lahore, which releases on 19 March, 2010, has been denied release in Pakistan. The reason that the concerned authorities in Pakistan mention is the title of the film. Another reason was also that all the Indian Films show Pakistan in a negative way.
Directed by Sanjay Puran Singh Chauhan and produced by Sai Om Film, the film is being distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures in India. Lahore stars Farouque Shaikh, Nafisa Ali, Sushant Singh, Shraddha Nigam, Saurabh Shukla, Kelly Dorji, Sabyasachi Chakraborty, Late Nirmal Pandey and Mukesh Rishi. The film also marks the debut of Aanaahad & Shraddha Das in the lead pair.
Producer Vivek Khatkar said, "Our film doesn’t have anything in negative about Pakistan, in fact it really has some good sides of the other nation, which I believe has never been shown in our Indian films before. The name of our film is Lahore because the climax of our film is set in Lahore, and we have no intentions of hurting anyone’s sentiments. I can understand the apprehensions that the concerned authorities of Pakistan have, but I can only say that we have made an International film and not just another Indian film, only the language of the film is Hindi. It is a sports based film and on general issues, which can be between any two nations and not only India-Pakistan but the actual hero of the film is the emotions of a family and not that of just countries. Well, I am quite surprised and hurt but only hoping that we can release our film in Pakistan, because I want everyone to see this film around the globe and take away some memories of a film of a lifetime. Rest, the time will tell."
The film is about Veerender Singh a sportsperson from India, who aspires to take revenge and restore lost pride. Despite the film being shot in Pakistan, it hasn’t got a nod from the neighbors.
