Sarfarosh’s 25th anniversary screening: Aamir Khan reveals that CBFC had reservations about Pakistan’s mention in the film: “Our point was that if Lal Krishna Advani can name Pakistan in the Parliament, why can’t we say it in our films?”

The 25thanniversary screening of Sarfarosh(1999) was held by Radio Nasha on May 10 at a multiplex in Mumbai and was attended by the team of the film in full force. Before the screening, Aamir Khan, Sonali Bendre, Naseeruddin Shah, Mukesh Rishi and director John Matthew Matthan came on stage and talked about interesting trivia of the film with RJ Divya Solgama.

John Matthew Matthan surprised everyone by stating that only Aamir Khan and Naseeruddin Shah knew the complete script. Sonali Bendre, at this point, pitched in and said that she prodded the director to divulge the whole plot to her.

John revealed, “There was a problem we had with our neighbour, Pakistan. And nobody had made films on the real problem between India and Pakistan. Hence, I wanted to keep that a secret for survival. And we managed.”

When asked to explain more, John Matthew Matthan said, “No one knew about the Pakistani angle. Only Aamir and Naseeruddin knew. Sonali was able to guess! No one else knew.”

Aamir Khan explained, “At that time, there was a rule in the CBFC (Central Board of Film Certification) that you cannot name the country. Those were the days when it was mentioned ‘Padosi mulk’. The name of the country was never uttered.” John corrected Aamir stating that Pakistan was actually addressed as a ‘friendly country’. He added, “But it is not friendly. Hence, I named it!”

Aamir then added, “Hence, it was a risk. We didn’t know if the Censors would pass the film. Humne front foot pe jaake Pakistan aur ISI ka naam liya which had never happened before.”

As expected, the CBFC did raise objections. Aamir stated, “Our point was that if Advani ji (Lal Krishna Advani) can name Pakistan in the Parliament, why can’t we say it in our films? The issue is public, in any case. Fortunately, the film was passed with no changes in this regard.”

In an exclusive interview with Bollywood Hungama during the 23rd anniversary of Sarfaroshin 2022, John Matthew Matthan said that after the film’s release, the Kargil War broke out between India and Pakistan and it added to the film’s business and relatability, “Sarfarosh was released on April 30, 1999, and in July 1999, the Kargil War began. Now, nobody knew that a war would break out between the two countries. Because of the amount I suffered, I guess God gave me a bonus; what I was talking about suddenly surfaced and became known nationwide. It certainly helped the film as people started relating to it. They realized that this is not something I cooked up; all this is a reality.”

Also Read: Sarfarosh’s 25th anniversary screening: “I get messages on Facebook that ‘Tum asli Gulfam Hasan ho’; Sabse zyada khushi ki baat yeh hai ki Pakistan mein film bahut pasand ki jaati hai” – Naseeruddin Shah

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