It’s Fatwa time …
Pak actress says fatwa issued against her
Behave yourself: The scene from the movie Nazar, starring Meera and Ashmit Patel, which created a furore in Pakistan
Pakistani actress Meera has claimed that she has been getting threatening calls from a religious organisation in Pakistan for her work in a Hindi film.
Meera, who is starring in Soni Razdan’s Nazar with Ashmit Patel, refused to name the organisation, saying it might compromise her safety.
Certain film stills of Meera smooching Ashmit Patel were circulated during the Kara film festival in December last year.
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“After that I began receiving calls from a man called Sher Khan who would abuse me and told me that he has issued a fatwa against me in Pakistan and that if I go back there, he will have me killed,” she says.
“They asked me how I could have kissed a Hindu?” she said. “They said why do you show your legs to Hindustan, show them in Pakistan. They don’t want me to work here,” she added.
Meera, a popular actress in Pakistan, says she did not raise the matter earlier as she was afraid that film producers may avoid working with her due to the controversy. after over a month of shuttling between Mumbai, Dubai and London, she says she wants to go back home.
Though Meera has repeatedly asked for a re-shoot of the sequence the Bhatts have refused to comply.
Now, the actress says she will approach the Pakistan High Commission in India for advice. “If need be I will approach President Musharaf himself.”**
Mahesh Bhatt who has scripted Nazar adds his bit when he says, “There is a virtual world and a real world. Beneath the real world intolerance still exists. It will take us years to dismantle these biases. With regards to Meera, this is a deliberate attempt by them to prevent talent drain,” says Bhatt.