MUMBAI (GNP): Bollywood actor Sunny Deol has drawn criticism online after quoting his late father, veteran actor Dharmendra, to describe Pakistan as India’s maternal aunt during a promotional press conference for his upcoming film Batwara 1947.
Deol, appearing alongside his son and co-star Karan Deol, was asked by a journalist on Sunday to comment on Pakistan as a nation and its current atmosphere.
Rather than answering directly, he recalled a saying his father often used: that India and Pakistan were once one country, with India as a mother and Pakistan as a maternal aunt, and said the two nations remained connected in some way regardless of politics.
Dharmendra, who died last November, had been a known advocate for warmer ties between the two countries during his lifetime.
Deol declined to elaborate further on Pakistan, saying his role as an actor was to tell stories rather than take political positions, and that he and his collaborators preferred to keep their work separate from politics. The remark drew a mixed reaction given Deol’s own history, since the actor, a former BJP politician, has built much of his career on overtly patriotic and nationalist films such as Border and Gadar.
Several social media users accused him of opportunism, while others criticised what they characterised as sympathetic remarks toward Pakistan, with some specifically pointing to his past use of nationalist rhetoric during his political campaigns.
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The reaction unfolded against a backdrop of strained India-Pakistan relations, which deteriorated further following a four-day military conflict between the two countries in May 2025.
India has since imposed a series of digital restrictions on Pakistani entertainment content, including bans on the YouTube channels and Instagram accounts of Pakistani celebrities, as well as the removal of Pakistani music and imagery from streaming platforms such as Spotify.
Batwara 1947, the film Deol was promoting, is set during the Partition of British India and follows a Muslim family that flees to Pakistan amid the violence of that period, only to find their allotted home in Lahore occupied by a Hindu woman, played by Shabana Azmi. Directed by Rajkumar Santoshi, the film also stars Preity Zinta, Ali Fazal and Abhimanyu Singh, and is scheduled for release on August 14.
Managing Editor at Global News Pakistan (GNP), with a Bachelor's degree in International Relations from Riphah International University, graduated with a Gold Medal. Reach out at sabahtareengnp@gmail.com
