Director says ‘We decided not to release film in India to avoid hurting public sentiment’
The producers of Sardaar Ji 3 have disclosed that the film suffered an estimated 40 per cent revenue loss following its non-release in India due to political tensions and social media backlash.
Speaking to Indian private TV channel, producer Gunbir Singh Sidhu confirmed that the decision to withhold the film’s release in India was taken voluntarily after the April 22 terror attack in Pahalgam, which reignited cross-border hostilities between India and Pakistan.
“We decided not to release the film in India to avoid hurting public sentiment,” Sidhu said. “Though the film was shot earlier this year in the UK, before the tensions, the situation changed after the attack. We did not want to inflame emotions or face further trolling.”
The film, starring singer-actor Diljit Dosanjh alongside Pakistani actor Hania Aamir and Neeru Bajwa, was released internationally on June 27. However, mounting pressure from Indian film bodies and social media outrage—particularly over Hania Aamir’s inclusion in the cast—led the producers to refrain from any promotional activities within India. The Film Federation of Western Indian Cinema (FFWIC) had also called for a boycott of the film and demanded action against Dosanjh.
Sidhu acknowledged that the backlash intensified after Pakistani actors Hania Aamir and Mahira Khan publicly condemned India’s controversial Operation Sindoor earlier this year. “They shouldn’t have made such statements. I won’t comment further, but I will say it was insulting,” he remarked.
Drawing a comparison with his 2024 blockbuster Jatt & Juliet 3, Sidhu said that the absence of the Indian market had significantly impacted Sardaar Ji 3‘s commercial prospects.
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“Jatt & Juliet 3 was the first Punjabi film to cross the ₹100 crore mark globally. Of that, 40 per cent came from India and 60 per cent from overseas markets,” Sidhu explained. “With Sardaar Ji 3 missing an Indian release, we’ve effectively lost that 40 per cent share.”
The Sardaar Ji franchise, which blends humour with supernatural elements, has enjoyed widespread popularity among Punjabi-speaking audiences across the world. In Sardaar Ji 3, Diljit Dosanjh reprises his role as a quirky ghost hunter who takes on a fresh paranormal case in the UK. Hania Aamir’s inclusion marked her first foray into Indian Punjabi cinema.
Despite the controversy, the film has opened to a strong response in overseas markets such as Canada, the UK, and Australia—regions with large Punjabi diasporas.
Neither Dosanjh nor Hania Aamir have publicly addressed the situation in detail. However, the film’s co-star Neeru Bajwa recently stirred headlines after unfollowing Aamir on Instagram and removing all promotional material related to the film from her feed, in what many interpret as a response to public pressure