'Ae Dil Hai Mushkil' Will Have Safe Release, Assured Rajnath Singh: Producers

Producer Mukesh Bhatt said after the meeting: "Rajnath Singh has told us that he is with us and he will speak to all chief ministers to ensure there is no violence."

"I came here as a very concerned and unsure person. I have come back a very relaxed man after the meeting," Mr Bhatt told reporters, adding, "It should be a Happy Diwali."

Groups like Raj Thackeray's Maharashtra Navnirman Sena or MNS have threatened to vandalise cinemas and block the film, which stars Pakistani actor Fawad Khan.

Sections of Bollywood have said that given the attacks in India by Pakistani terrorists that have killed soldiers, Pak artistes should be banned from working in the film industry.

Union Minister Babul Supriyo, a well-known playback singer who also met the Home Minister along with the producers, said: "Producers do understand the sentiment of the nation. MNS cannot have the right to take law in their hands. They have harassed people before."

Earlier this week, Karan Johar released a video statement declaring "for me, my country comes first. Nothing else matters but my country" and pledged that he will not use Pakistani artists in future projects.

However, the 45-year-old urged, his movie was shot much before tension between India and Pakistan escalated and that any attempts to boycott or blacklist it will affect the large team of people that worked on the movie. "I beseech you to know one thing - that over 300 Indian people in my crew have put their blood, sweat and tears in Ae Dil Hai Mushkil," he said.

A section of cinema owners in four states have said they will not release Mr Johar's movie because along with Ranbir Kapoor, Anushka Sharma and Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, it features Pakistani actor Fawad Khan who appeared in earlier Hindi movies like Kapoor and Sons.

Last month, 19 soldiers were killed after Pakistani terrorists attacked their base in Uri in Kashmir. Days later, India crossed the Line of Control or LoC for surgical strikes on terrorist staging areas in Pakistan-Occupied Kashmir. Prime Minister Narendra Modi is leading a campaign to globally isolate Pakistan.

Following the Uri Attack, the Indian Motion Picture Producers' Association, which represents a number of Hindi film industry employees, passed a motion banning Pakistani artistes until relations between Delhi and Islamabad improve.