Release of Fawad Khan’s Pakistani blockbuster ‘The Legend of Maula Jatt’ halted in India

The Pakistani blockbuster The Legend of Maula Jatt, starring Fawad Khan and Mahira Khan, will not be released in India’s Punjab state on Wednesday as announced earlier, the distribution holder of the film confirmed on Tuesday.

Nadeem Mandviwalla told PTI that an Indian ministry has obtained a stay order from a court against the release of the film.

He said that though he held the exclusive distribution rights of the film in Pakistan, he knew that the company holding the international rights with Zee India had collaborated to make the release of the film possible in India’s Punjab.

“Unfortunately its release has once again been stalled and there is nothing anyone can do until the court gives its decision,” Mandviwalla said.

Mandviwalla, one of the top distributors, exhibitors and cinema owners in Pakistan, said that whenever the film’s release is possible in India, it will be a big step forward for the Pakistani industry.

“I am pretty sure given the quality and efforts put into the making of the film and its brilliant cast, Maula Jatt will be a big hit in Indian Punjab,” he added.

Since the announcement of the film’s release in India’s Punjab, there has been resistance from some parties, politicians and others, and Mandiwalla felt it was because of this that the concerned authorities had gone to court.

On September 18, film’s director Bilal Lashari announced the movie will be released in the Indian state of Punjab by Zee Studios in collaboration with Zindagi, which also brought Fawad back to audiences in India with its latest show Barzakh.

India banned the export of Indian films to Pakistan after the Pulwama incident in 2019 and the Pakistan government in a tit-for-tat response also banned screening of Indian films in the country.

The last Pakistani film to release in India was 2011’s Bol starring Humaima Malick and Atif Aslam.

The ban has hurt the Pakistani film industry badly as the distributors and owners of multiplexes and single-screen cinemas relied heavily on Bollywood movies before the ban with several Indian movies raking in millions for the industry after doing good business in Pakistan.

When it was released, two years ago, The Legend of Maula Jatt made a record business for a Pakistani film, minting around Pakistani Rs 400 crores in the domestic and international markets.

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