Vaani Kapoor and Fawad Khan’s Abir Gulaal is set to be released in the international markets on August 29, as per a report in Biz Asia, which stated that the film is now titled as Aabir Gulaal. However, the film will likely skip India release as the report doesn’t mention any details regarding the same.
Abir Gulaal was set to be the comeback film for Pakistani actor Fawad Khan since his last appearance in Karan Johar’s Ae Dil Hai Mushkil in 2016. It was earlier scheduled to be released in India on May 9 but got banned after the Pahalgam terrorists attack on April 22. After the attack, the Federation of Western India Cine Employees (FWICE) announced a ban on Pakistani artists and reiterated that they will not allow Abir Gulaal to be released in India.
The film is set to take the route of Diljit Dosanjh’s Sardaar Ji 3, which was also banned in India and went only for a worldwide release. Diljit faced a lot of heat from film bodies for working with Pakistani actor Hania Aamir. Despite that, the romantic-comedy turned out to be a box office hit, becoming the highest-grossing Punjabi film worldwide.
Vaani had defended the worldwide release of Sardaar Ji 3 and said, “I am assuming his film was shot before the atrocious attack, and I am assuming, as a producer, his money must have been stuck. I guess some 100 technicians were involved in making the film. The situation was different when the film was shot. I don’t think he was meaning to disrespect the nation. He is a global star… He is looked up to globally. He has taken measures as per whatever he thought was suitable to him. But I don’t think any laws have been broken, right?”
There is no official confirmation by the makers about the release of Abir Gulaal in the overseas market. A teaser of the film was unveiled earlier this year along with a song featuring Vaani and Fawad.
