‘Hania Aamir hit below the belt’: Sardaar Ji 3 co-producer condemns Pak actor’s comments about Operation Sindoor

Earlier this year, the makers of Diljit Dosanjh and Neeru Bajwa’s Sardaar Ji 3 completed the shoot of the much-awaited film with a surprise in store for fans — Pakistani actor Hania Aamir in a prominent role. But what most of the country didn’t see coming was the Pahalgam terror attack, Operation Sindoor as its response and crazy tensions between India and Pakistan. When Hania condemned Operation Sindoor as a ‘cowardly attack’, she was brutally trolled, with netizens hoping that she would be dropped from Sardaar Ji 3. But when the trailer released, she was very much a part of it. It was announced that the film would release overseas including Pakistan, which further angered Indian fans. Sardaar Ji 3’s co-producer Gunbir Singh Sidhu (the other co-producer being Diljit) has now opened up about their decision to skip India release as well as Hania’s comments against India.

In a chat with NDTV on Thursday, Sardaar Ji 3’s co-producer and Managing Director of White Hill Studios, Gunbir Singh Sidhu revealed that the team decided not to release the film in India when the makers found out about the Pahalgam attack, Operation Sindoor and the rising tensions between India and Pakistan. Gunbir explained that this decision was taken as the team was hurt by the incident and did not want to hurt the sentiments of their fellow countrymen. This decision cost the team a loss of roughly 40% of their revenue. Explaining the math behind it, Gunbir shared that his last film with Diljit and Neeru, Jatt & Juliet 3 (2024), was the first Punjabi film to do a business of ₹100 crore at the worldwide box office, out of which 40% came from business in India, bringing it to approximately ₹40 crore.

Admitting that Hania’s comments against India were wrong, Gunbir shared, “I believe that they should not have made such statements. But I cannot comment more than that. But I would say that those things should not have happened and she hit below the belt.” He further stated, “Now we have taken this decision with full strength that we will not work with any Pakistani artist from now on.”

Meanwhile, Diljit commented on Hania’s casting in a chat with BBC Asian Network. He claimed, “Jab yeh film bani thi tab toh situation sab theek tha. Matlab jab yeh humne shoot kiya, February mein… February mein shoot kiya, tab situation theek thi, saara kuchh sahi chal raha tha. Uske baad, dekho bohot saari cheezein, badi cheezein humaare haath mein nahi hai. Toh yeh producers ne decide kiya ki yeh film obviously ab India toh nahi lagegi, toh isko overseas release karte hain. Toh obviously inka bohot paisa laga hua hai, aur jab yeh film ban rahi thi tab aisa kuchh tha nahi. Toh theek hai fir woh already loss, unn logo ke dimaag mein hai ki loss toh hoga hi 100%, kyunki ek territory aap usme minus kar rahe ho. Toh, maine bhi jab film sign ki thi tab toh sab theek tha, toh abhi ab situations humaare haath mein hai nahi. Toh bahar release karna chahte hain, toh main unke saath hun.”