“I guess, having experienced it firsthand, it’s just sad”, said actress Mahira Khan on the ban on Pakistani artists in the film industry of India, who agreed to work with an OTT platform Zee Theater.
Zee Theater offered Pakistani former host and now television and film actress Mahira Khan to work for a web series Yaar Julahay but an unofficial ban was imposed by nationalist far-right Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) for Pakistani artists to work in India.
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President of MNS Cinema Wing Ameya Khopkar said, “We will not allow Mahira Khan or any other Pakistani artists to work here be it Maharashtra or in any part of the country”. 
The actress, who made her Bollywood debut with Raees, opened up about the restriction in a recent interview as she believed that a great opportunity for entire subcontinent to collaborate was lost.
“When I think about it I mean, we have all moved on. That’s what we do, if we don’t have this, we do something else. That’s what happens. But I feel like a great opportunity for the entire subcontinent to come together and collaborate was lost. I think it might happen again. Who knows?”, Mahira Khan expressed.
The actress also revealed that numerous digital series were offered to her but she was scared to sign them.
“A lot of the other series were offered to me and at that time I don’t know if anybody will understand when I say this, I was scared. I was genuinely just scared,” she added.
Notably, after Uri attack in 2016, Pakistani artists were prohibited to work in the Indian film industry while All Indian Cine Workers Association imposed a complete ban on artists from Pakistan after Pulwama attack in 2019.