Maharashtra Chief Minister Intervenes To Resolve Karan Johar’s ‘Mushkil’ 

Justifying his intervention in the stand-off over the release of Ae Dil Hai Mushkil, Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis said a resolution was possible because the Producers’ Guild and Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) arrived at common grounds. The chief minister was speaking to Hindi news channel Aaj Tak.

Fadnavis had come under attack from the Congress and the NCP for 'brokering' a truce between film producers and the MNS, with the opposition parties saying that the state government's role is to ensure rule of law and it was for the Centre to decide whether Pakistani artists should be banned.

Under pressure from political and other outfits, the Bollywood film producers’ body announced that they will not engage with Pakistani artistes, clearing the decks for the smooth release of the Karan Johar film. MNS withdrew its threat to stall the screening after the guild’s announcement.

Johar's Ae Dil Hai Mushkil had been embroiled in controversy over the past few weeks after the MNS opposed the screening of movies featuring Pakistani actors, following the Uri terror attack. This had put a question mark on the fate of movie, slated for release on October 28.

Johar, accompanied by Producers' Guild President Mukesh Bhatt, met the Maharashtra Chief Minister at his home 'Varsha' on Saturday morning where Thackeray, whose party MNS has been opposing the release, was also present.

Producers Sidharth Roy Kapur, Sajid Nadiadwala and Vijay Singh of Fox Star Studios were present in the meeting as well. Speaking to reporters after the meeting, Bhatt said that it was "positive and constructive and Ae Dil Hai Mushkil will release as per the schedule."

The makers of the film will also contribute a portion of its revenue to the army welfare fund as demanded by MNS.

Bhatt also said that they have assured the chief minister that neither the Producers' Guild nor any filmmaker will work with any Pakistani artiste or technician in the future.

Asked why he gave so much importance to call and meet an outfit which forced producers to pay "hafta", Fadnavis said, "These two stakeholders needed a mediation and that's what I did and came out with an amicable solution."

Fadnavis said he preferred a solution arrived at after dialogue between the two parties or else the state machinery would have had to use an iron hand against those who took law into their hands. "There is something called law and order, through which we have dealt it with accordingly," he said.

Earlier in the day, former Mumbai Police commissioner and BJP MP Satyapal Singh said the Chief Minister should not have called a political party to find the solution to such a problem. "I think the CM could have dealt with this without inviting him (Raj Thackeray). He (Fadnavis) should have dealt this situation firmly," said Singh.

In a bid to downplay Singh's remark, Fadnavis said, "Satyapal ji has been police commissioner of Mumbai and as a police officer, this was his way to sort out the issues. While being a neta, it was my way to find an amicable solution."

"The Producers Guild said that when Pakistani actors were cast in the movie, situation was different and the government was trying to improve relations with Pakistan," Fadnavis said. "However, given the current situation they have decided to pass a resolution to not promote or give work to any Pakistani artist in future," he added. "They (Producers Guild) said that they'll give tribute to martyrs in the beginning of the movie, and they want to contribute to army welfare fund," said the Chief Minister.