The horror of ghastly Pulwama terror attack has taken over the nation. Over 40 CRPF jawans were killed in this cowardly attack carried out by Pakistan based terrorist outfit, in Pulwama district of Jammu and Kashmir. The country is in no mood to forgive and forget this attack and that also applies to, when it comes to cultural exchange between Pakistan and India. As the demand for ban on cultural exchange between both the country intensifies, there were reports that Salman Khan had to replace Pakistani singers, Atif Aslam and Rahat Fateh Ali Khan in his next Bollywood film Bharat. However, turns out that they were never even roped in this flick. After Ajay Devgn’s Total Dhamaal, Now Maddock Films Won’t Release Kartik Aaryan’s Luka Chuppi and Diljit Dosanjh’s Arjun Patiala in Pakistan.

There were strong rumors that this Ali Abbas Zafar patriotic period drama has songs sung by Atif Aslam and Rahat Fateh Ali Khan and that they were replaced post the Pulwama attack incident. However, a report in pinkvilla.com states that they were never a part of this project in the first place.

A source close to the development said, “This time, Salman knows that he can’t ignore the demand to ban the Pakistani singers. And while he believes the voices of Rahat Fateh Ali Khan and Atif Aslam suit him best, there are far bigger truths to tackle right now. To cling stubbornly to the unwanted elements for purely selfish reasons would damage his reputation severely. That is a risk he is not willing to take.”

Atif and Rahat Fateh Ali Khan have been Bhai’s go-to people as naturally their voices fit perfectly into the bill. They have sung many songs for the superstar Khan including the recent ones like "Dil Diyan Gallan" and "Jag Ghoomeya". It will be interesting to see who gets to be the voice of Salman in his next. On the other hand, Dabangg Khan asked his production house SKF, to replace Atif from Zaheer and Pranutan’s film ‘Notebook’ that is produced by himself.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Feb 20, 2019 05:39 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).