Pakistani actress Mahira Khan reveals she faced backlash after 2016 Uri attacks, talks on bipolar diagnosis

Actress Mahira Khan, renowned for her successful television shows and her role alongside Shah Rukh Khan in the movie 'Raees,' discussed the backlash she encountered following the 2016 Uri attacks, which precipitated the unofficial ban on Pakistani artists in India. The actress also discussed how the incident took a toll on her mental health.

In a recent interview, Mahira Khan recounted the time when she faced immense backlash after starring in 'Raees' opposite Shah Rukh Khan. She also mentioned that the situation took a toll on her mental well-being and eventually led to her diagnosis of bipolar disorder. The release of 'Raees' coincided with the aftermath of the Uri attack, a period that strained India-Pakistan relations and reverberated across domains such as sports and the arts.

She also spoke



about the 2017 incident, where pictures of her smoking with actor Ranbir Kapoor emerged online. Mahira, along with fellow actor Fawad Khan and singers Rahat Fateh Ali Khan and Atif Aslam, emerged as some of the most high-profile Pakistani artists to face the repercussions of this unofficial ban.

In an appearance on the FWhy podcast, reflecting on the impact of this episode on her mental health, she said, "That year was rough. The same year Raees released was the same year Verna released, and the same year the whole picture thing happened, and it broke me. It was unexpected. I’d finished the film, it was going just fine. Then suddenly this attack happens, and politically, everything gets political. It’s always political, it’s always political. With India, it’s always political. But the fact that it would get this messy."