Case of the cameo
Fawad Khan’s appearance in ‘Jawani Phir Nahi Ani 2’ had to be removed
In its ninth week running, Jawani Phir Nahi Ani 2 (JPNA2)continues to conquer the box office in Pakistan, approaching the unheard-of Rs500 million (Dh13.7 million) mark (counting the domestic figures only). Strangely, the ‘omission’ of an approximately seven-minute-long appearance in the film by Fawad Khan hasn’t been accounted for.
It all began when guests at JPNA2’s premieres in Lahore and Karachi left theatres unamused by Khan’s kohl-eyed rockstar with black nails and a bad lisp. The reaction was that his sequence looked forced, and no one was sure why the Khubsoorat star needed to do this sort of a cameo. The next we knew, the entire part had been chucked out when the movie was released in theatres.
This obviously got curious media folk talking. When quizzed, scriptwriter and actor Vasay Chaudhry blamed it on lastminute, poor subtitling. But insiders say that the makers got apprehensive seeing the audience’s response. So, they quietly removed Khan’s scenes.
The story doesn’t end here. The edits could not be made in the film’s Digital Cinema Package for international markets, as it had been shipped already. As a result, there have been two versions of JPNA2 showing in cinemas — one, which features Khan, in cinemas outside Pakistan; and the other, without him, in local theatres.
However, both the versions still have Khan in a nano-second appearance.