Ae Dil Hai Mushkil row: Karan Johar relents, Bollywood fumes

After weeks of sleepless nights, team Ae Dil Hai Mushkil breathed a sigh of relief on Saturday, when MNS chief Raj Thackeray’s squad promised to ‘allow’ a smooth release of the film. It came at a heavy price of course — Rs 5 crore to be precise.

Complying with MNS’ demand, Karan Johar allegedly agreed to pay Rs 5 crore to the soldiers’ fund along with paying a tribute to the martyrs of the Uri terror attack (this will be shown as a slide at the beginning of the film). His contemporaries, however, aren’t lauding the gesture.

Asking producers to pay up is not okay. This is pure extortion and I don’t think the army should accept this money. This is the worst kind of goondagardi you can imagine. And all of this is politically motivated; it has nothing to do with any kind of actual, true patriotism.
— Karan Anshuman, filmmaker

Uri attacks happened a month ago, so why this emotional gesture right now? This is more of a compromise and this doesn’t reflect my point of view. Creative work will be a soft target now. Politicians are doing what they do best, but why couldn’t we, as creative folks, stand up for what’s right? There’s so much of hard work that goes into a project, why should it be abandoned? If rich and successful people can’t stand up for their rights, then who can help them?
— Vivek Agnihotri, filmmaker

My sympathies are with Karan. The film was shot when the bilateral relationship was better, when Indian and Pakistani delegates were visiting each other and trade was healthy. As it is for a filmmaker, there is enough pressure to handle before a film’s release. This is a very unfair step that has been taken.
— Onir, filmmaker

ADHM has been okayed by the Censor Board and Home Minister Rajnath Singh promised a safe passage for the release. The matter should have ended there. The role of the Maharashtra Chief Minister was clear; he had to ensure law and order. Instead, he brokered a deal between the producers and Raj Thackeray, who places a price of Rs 5 crore for display of patriotism. What a shameful state of affairs!
— Shabana Azmi, actress

As told to Subhash K. Jha