PAKISTAN SHUTS DOWN BOLLYWOOD COMEDY

Pakistan film censors on Wednesday halted Friday’s scheduled release of a Bollywood movie starring one of Pakistan’s biggest pop stars, Ali Zafar. Zafar, making his film debut, stars in the comedy Tere Bin Ladin as a Pakistani reporter who hopes to get a visa to the U.S. by finding a bin Ladin look-alike and interviewing him. However, the Associated Press reported on Wednesday that Pakistan’s film board decided that the film could trigger terrorist attacks in theaters by bin Ladin supporters. The decision, however, can be appealed, and it was expected that the Indian producers would file an appeal at once. The film is being released in India and elsewhere on Friday, and Zafar has been zealously promoting it. Conscious that he is one of the few Pakistani actors ever to star in an Indian movie, Zafar told India’s Press Trust wire service, “I think films and music are one of the greatest tools of bringing in peace and harmony between India and Pakistan.”