There have been many instances in India when a particular movie is being banned because of many reasons like hurting the religious sentiments of a community, obscene scenes, taboo subjects, or too much sex or violence shown in the movie. But there have been such instances also where the movie is released in India with no issues but got banned in foreign countries because of some reasons. Here we have created a list of 7 Indian movies that got banned in foreign countries.
The Kashmir Files (2022)
The Kashmir Files was in controversy ever since the movie has been announced because of various reasons but when it was released in India, it became a super hit and earned more than 200 crores at the box office. The movie was about the mass exodus of Kashmiri pandits from their native places in Kashmir. Surprisingly the movie was banned in Singapore because the censor board there thought it showed only one side of a particular community and it has the potential to create tension between two communities.
Padmaavat (2018)
Padmaavat was an epic historical movie based on the legend of Rani Padmaavati and the book Padmaavat written by an epic poem written in 1540 by Sufi poet Malik Muhammad Jayasi. The movie starred Deepika Padukone as Rani Padmaavati, Shahid Kapoor as Maharaja Ratan Singh, and Ranveer Singh as Allaudin Khilji. The movie had issues in India also as the Rajput community claimed the movie bends the history and demanded a ban on it and it was released only when they personally saw the movie and found no objection. But unfortunately, the case was not the same in Malaysia where it was banned over concerns regarding “sensitivities of Islam”.
Bell Bottom
Bell-Bottom was an espionage thriller starring Akshay Kumar in the lead and inspired by many instances of plan hijacking in India during the 80s and 90s. The movie was a decent hit in India and mostly got positive reviews but it was banned in the three Gulf countries – Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, and Qatar as according to them the movie distorted historical facts.
Neerja (2016)
Neerja was based on the true incident of hijacking of Pan Am Flight 73 in Karachi, Pakistan by Libyan-backed Abu Nidal Organization on 5 September 1986. Sonam Kapoor played the titular role of Nerja Bhanot, a flight attendant who gave her life trying to save the passengers on the flight. The movie was both a critical and commercial success at the box office but it was banned in Pakistan alleging that it showed Pakistan in bad colours.
Pad Man (2018)
Pad Man starring Akshay Kumar was inspired by the life of Arunachalam Muruganantham who understood the problem women face during menstruation and how most of the women use dirty clothes while menstruating which is responsible for many diseases. Despite being a taboo subject about which people don’t talk openly, he fought his own way and created cheap and safe sanitary pads for women. Even after being based on an important topic, it was banned in Kuwait and Pakistan for the depiction of a taboo subject like menstrual hygiene.
Baby (2015)
Baby was directed by acclaimed director Neeraj Pandey and featured Akshay Kumar, Anupam Kher, Rana Dubbagati, and Tapsee Pannu. It was an espionage thriller movie about a team of secret agents led by the character of Akshay Kumar. It was a hit in India but it was banned in Pakistan owing to its alleged depiction of Muslims in a negative light.
The Dirty Picture (2012)
The Dirty Picture starred Vidya Balan and the story of the movie is inspired by controversial south Indian actress Silk Smith who was famous for her bold scenes in movies. The movie was a big hit in India and VidyaBalan even won the Filmfare Best Actress Award that year. The movie was banned in Islamic countries like Pakistan, Qatar, and Kuwait because of it being provocative and having sexual undertones.
