LAHORE (The Thursday Times) — Bollywood stars Ayushmann Khurrana and Sara Ali Khan were promoting their new film at the Attari-Wagah border on Tuesday when music from loudspeakers on the Pakistani side drowned out their remarks, in a moment that quickly went viral on both sides of the border.
Video from the scene shows Khurrana speaking into a microphone at the ceremonial gate as Atif Aslam’s rendition of the qawwali “Tajdar-e-Haram” blares from across the frontier, loud enough to overpower his voice. Clips of the moment spread rapidly on social media, with users on the Pakistani side calling it well-timed trolling and some on the Indian side joking that “the soundtrack chose violence.”
Promoting a film about Pakistan
Khurrana and Khan were at the border, where Indian and Pakistani troops hold a daily Beating Retreat ceremony, to promote “Udta Teer,” a spy comedy directed by Aakash Kaushik due for release in Indian cinemas on Thursday. The film follows a Pakistani intelligence operative who loses his memory in an accident in India and comes to believe he is an Indian counterterrorism officer.
The film’s trailer has drawn criticism from some viewers in Pakistan over its portrayal of the country, and Nepal’s government has denied it permission for public screening there, citing the country’s cinema law without specifying which scenes were at issue. Indian coverage has noted the backlash without confirming it reflects wider public opinion.
Not the first border mix-up
The Attari-Wagah crossing has long doubled as a stage, with its evening flag-lowering ceremony drawing crowds and performers from both countries. Tuesday’s episode was not the first time music from one side has drowned out an event on the other, but the timing, a Bollywood film about Pakistan interrupted by a Pakistani singer’s qawwali, gave it an extra edge online.∎
