26 June,2025 04:42 PM IST | Mumbai | mid-day online correspondent
Guru Randhawa, Diljit Dosanjh and Rakhi Sawant
Singer-actor Diljit Dosanjh has been facing heat over the casting of Pakistani actress Hania Aamir in his upcoming Punjabi film Sardaar Ji 3. The matter sparked after a trailer of the film was released, showing the Pakistani actress. And now it continues to escalate as many film bodies are calling for a ban on all of Diljit Dosanjh's films and on him as well, citing Pakistan's attack on Pahalgam on April 22. Notably, the film has already been cancelled its release in India and will be released in other countries. The timing of the film and the casting have led to many criticising the actor and the makers.
Guru Randhawa became the latest celebrity to allegedly take a dig at Diljit amid the ongoing controversy. The Ishaare Tere singer shared a couple of cryptic tweets on his X (formerly Twitter) handle. Although they did not directly address anyone, fans believe they were aimed at Diljit. In one of his tweets, he wrote, "When the PR team is more talented than the talent itself, controversies become part of the daily routine. The day is near when our people will open their eyes and know the truth. LOL. 1st of every month, dropping bombs. God bless the fake PR and the artists," wrote the Lahore singer.
In another tweet on Thursday, Guru wrote in Punjabi, "Lakh pardesi hoyieee. Apna desh nhi bhandi daa. Jehre mulk da khayie, us da bura nhi mangi da." (Even if you become a complete foreigner, you should never betray your own country. One should never wish ill for the country that provides for them.) He further added, "Even if now your citizenship is not Indian but you were born here, please remember this. This country made great artists, and we all are proud of it. Please be proud of where you were born. Just an advice. Now don't start controversy again and manipulate Indians LOL. PR is bigger than the artist."
On the other hand, Rakhi Sawant came out in support of Diljit amid the backlash. Taking to Instagram, Rakhi posted a video of the film's song praising both Diljit and Hania, in her caption. She captioned it, "Congratulation my sweetheart. Hania AmeeR. I'm so happy. Finally you are in Bollywood films, congratulation Daljit sardaar Ji, 3 (sic)."
She shared another video of glimpses from the movie and wrote, "Everyone should watch this movie. Sardaar3 Hania AmeeR she's doing debut. Everyone should appreciate her. She's my favourite. All the best. Congratulation Haniya Allah bless you (sic)."
Similarly, Punjabi singer Jasbir Jassi, during an interview with NDTV, expressed his support for Diljit. He said, "I'm seeing how Diljit Dosanjh and his film are facing protests on social media because that film also stars a Pakistani artiste. I respect people's sentiments that we should love our country and that we should stand by our country. But why these double standards? If you don't want any Pakistani artists singing, acting or working in any Indian film, you want to ban them. But 80% of the songs of our industry have been stolen, be it their tunes or words or entire songs. There are so many songs in our films that have been sung by the artists of that country...So, why these double standards?"
He further added, "Either get rid of all those songs from YouTube, Spotify and other digital platforms. But not like this, you take just one artist and start protesting against them. It's like someone came to your house with something to eat, and then you start calling them the enemy, but you keep eating the things or sweets they brought along with them. If you want to ban (Pakistani artists), ban them completely. Get all that content available in the world lifted."
