Kabul Express Banned in Kabul and Afghanistan!

It is unbelievable! Kabul Express has been banned in Afghanistan. It is one of the very few films based on Afghanistan. Afghanistan government felt that some parts of the movie were offensive to a particular race of Afghanistan. Reuters stated:

Afghanistan has banned an Indian Bollywood film about journalists in the war-ravaged country because parts of it were deemed offensive to one of Afghanistan's ethnic minorities, a government official said on Saturday.

"Kabul Express" charts a 48-hour journey by three journalists in post-Taliban Afghanistan. It opened to mixed reviews in India last month.

"The film has some sentences which were very offensive toward one of Afghanistan's ethnicities, namely the Hazara," said Minister of Culture adviser Najib Manalai.

"For this reason it has been banned."

Sad indeed. So, I hope that the producer of Kabul Express can resolve the problem with Afghan government soon.

Kabul Express not Running Fast in UK and USA

Taran Adarsh has reported in Indiafm: 'Kabul Express' derailed! He wrote:

This writer was the sole reviewer to point out that KABUL EXPRESS would face an uphill task in U.K. and U.S.A. because of its anti-Pak flavor. With Pakistanis forming a major chunk of movie-going audience in these two countries, any film with an anti-Pak stance gets ignored by this section of the audience, which results in the business getting affected. That’s precisely what happened to KABUL EXPRESS.

The first weekend collections of KABUL EXPRESS in U.K. and U.S.A. have indeed come as a rude shock. What’s surprising is that Yash Raj has had two solid hits in 2006 -- FANAA and DHOOM 2 -- and one expected at least a face-saving start for KABUL EXPRESS.

If you go by numbers and screen average, KABUL EXPRESS is Yash Raj’s lowest opener in U.K. The weekend collections are even lower than NEAL ‘N’ NIKKI, one of the weakest films produced by the premier banner.

In the U.S. too, KABUL EXPRESS is better than NEAL ‘N’ NIKKI, but way below the other Yash Raj releases. Sad!

Now, we have to wait and see the performance of the movie in India and the Middle East. Of course, Kabul Express is a movie for a niche and it was not expected to be a blockbuster movie anyway.

Dubai International Film Festival (DIFF) is not exactly the best film festival in the world. I wonder how many people even know that DIFF exists. However, Dubai is where the money is. So, Kabul Express is there for glamour. 7 Days reported:

‘Kabul Express’, which had its gala screening at the Dubai International Film Festival (DIFF) last night, is a remarkable film on several levels. For a start, it’s a Bollywood film without any music, singing or dancing. It was directed by a man more famous for making documentaries, it was the first feature film to be shot in Afghanistan post 9/11 and was completed in just 45 days, oh and the big name stars appearing in the epic had the Taliban after them.

Kabul Express has already won the heart of many people in Dubai. Now, let us if it becomes successful in India itself.