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Bollywood king and worldwide mega star, Shahrukh Khan recently released the trailer for Bard of Blood, a show that he’s produced for Netflix, and the Pakistani audience isn’t having any of it, especially at a sensitive time between India and Pakistan.

The trailer of the series starring Emraan Hashmi in the lead, opens up with a shot that’s supposed to be Balochistan, Pakistan, and the setting is instantly established  as a terrorist organization’s den, that’s working against Indians. Naturally, the course of action is some Indian spies on a mission to overthrow this organization in Pakistan. Now, for the most part, the trailer could’ve been just another action/thriller movie, however the dynamics change completely when we focus at the time of release; India and Pakistan are at heads over Kashmir and war hysteria is real.

Following the trailer’s release, Mehwish Hayat, recipient of the Tamgha-e-Imtiaz, tweeted about how India has always promoted a false image of Pakistan, vilifying the nation as per agenda.

 

 

Mehwish was not the only one who had reservations about the trailer, many journalists also called it out for its blatant denigration of what Pakistan and Pakistanis are like.

Natasha Kundi of The London Tree had a burning question for Shahrukh Khan himself, who of course bore the major brunt of judgement in this scenario, being the producer of the series.

 

 

Many were of the view that this is in fact a declaration of loyalty from Shahrukh’s side towards India, in an effort to avoid hate, being a Muslim star. Dr. Shaista Lodhi also took to twitter to voice her frustration with the narrative.

 

 

 

Columnist and writer, Mehr Tarar called SRK out for his new found ‘jingoism’.

 

 

Writer and prominent tweeter, Mahwash Ajaz, had a different take on the situation and one that is also highly needed. Serving as a reality check, her tweet made a lot of sense when it talked about how we can’t blame India for showing their version of the stories. It’s time that we showcase our version instead of whining about theirs.

 

 

Never one to stay far behind on twitter discourses, DG ISPR Asif Ghafoor also weighed in, providing some insights and reality checks.

 

 

What are your thoughts on the trailer? Are you excited or are you practicing a boycott of the series as well? Let us know in the comments!