Mumbai, July 4 (IANS) Despite reportedly being banned by the Federation of Western India Cine Employees (FWICE), Punjabi singer and actor Diljit Dosanjh continues to be a part of “Border 2”.

During an exclusive conversation with IANS, FWICE president B N Tiwari revealed if ‘Border 2’ makers, T-series pressurized them to lift the ban from Diljit.

Speaking to IANS, Tiwari said, “If you consider a request pressure then you can call it pressure. We have good relations with T-series. We visited them four times and warned them that they could not continue with the shoot, but they kept on asking us for a chance. They were unable to find a different combination of artists for their film. When they showed their incapability, it was our duty to come up with a solution as it was our country’s money at stake.”

The FWICE President further informed that the producer of “Border 2” had written a letter requesting them to let Diljit be a part of the movie.

He also disclosed that the makers urged them to let Diljit be a part of the movie as a majority part of the shoot had already been completed, and it would have been difficult for them to find another combination of actors for the war drama. The makers also informed them that they had already filmed most of the action sequences, and hence replacing Diljit would be extremely difficult.

Amidst backlash for Diljit for working with Pakistani actress Hania Aamir in “Sardaar Ji 3” FWICE had written a letter to Bhushan Kumar, JP Dutta, Nidhi Dutta, and Anurag Singh, urging them to remove Diljit from the sequel.

“The Federation of Western India Cine Employees (FWICE), representing the core workforce of the Indian film and television industry, is deeply disappointed and concerned by the casting of actor-singer Mr. Diljit Dosanjh in your upcoming film Border 2 produced under the banner of JP Films in collaboration with T-Series and directed by Mr. Anurag Singh. By choosing to collaborate with an artist who has so brazenly ignored the ongoing tensions and national sentiment, your production has directly undermined the stand taken by the Indian film industry in solidarity with the nation,” the letter read.

–IANS

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