‘Sardaar Ji 3’ risks 40% revenue loss as India release gets scrapped, says producer

‘Sardaar Ji 3’ has been facing backlash from all sides since the release of the film’s poster and trailer, with industry unions running a boycott plan for the film, its lead actor Diljit Dosanjh, and its producers for casting Pakistani actress Hania Aamir.

Film body unions like the Federation of Western India Cine Employees (FWICE) and the All Indian Cine Workers Association (AICWA) have requested the ban of the film in India and urged the removal of Punjabi singer-actor Dosanjh from industry circles. FWICE also wrote to Prime Minister Narendra Modi urging him to take away Dosanjh’s passport and strip him of any rights that come with the Indian citizenship.

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Amid mounting criticism, producer and White Hill Studios Managing Director Gunbir Singh Sidhu, who is bankrolling the comedy film, explained that the film was shot well before the Pahalgam attack, which triggered the geo-political unrest between India and Pakistan.

"Those who are actively involved in the film industry and are aware of day-to-day activities, know that this film was shot in February-March 2025 itself,” Sidhu said in an interview with NDTV. “We shot it in the UK. There was no such atmosphere at that time, work was going on normally between the two countries. The whole atmosphere was normal. There was no restriction from the Government of India or any other institution."

Along with the release of the trailer on his Instagram, Dosanjh added that the film will not be scheduled for a release in India, thereby only hitting the silver screens abroad. The producer said, "When we came to know about this attack, we decided that we would not release the film India, because we did not want to hurt the sentiments of our people in any way... We did not put the trailer on YouTube in India, nor did we do any kind of promotional activities."

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Sidhu also acknowledged the loss the film will face by not releasing it in the Indian market. He referenced his film Jatt and Juliet 3 which created history by becoming the first Indian Punjabi film to cross the Rs 100 crore mark at the box office. “40% of that came from business in India and 60% overseas. So you assume that we have a business of about 40 crore from India and 60 crore from abroad. In such a situation, it is clear that 40% of our revenue loss has happened."

"Now we have taken this decision with full strength that we will not work with any Pakistani artist from now on," Sidhu concluded.

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