Pak censor bans advertisements of Akshay Kumar's 'Khiladi 786'

Pakistani censors have banned advertisements for Bollywood star Akshay Kumar's latest film "Khiladi 786" because the number 786 is revered by some Muslims and could hurt their sentiments.

The Censor Board has directed cinema halls and distributors not to release the movie's trailers and to remove billboards for the film.

"Khiladi 786" is yet to be cleared by the censors for screening in Pakistan.

The censors barred the advertisements as the number 786 is revered by some Muslims and they could find the name of the film objectionable, the Dawn newspaper reported.

Censor Board Chairman Raja Mustafa Haider told the daily: "The appearance of banners for the film in Rawalpindi and other areas was brought to my notice and I asked the City District Government Rawalpindi to remove all of them."

He did not disclose the final decision about the fate of the movie. "We will decide it when the movie comes to us, before screening in the cinema houses," he said.

Haider further said the Censor Board had managed to convince distributors to present the film without the number 786. The movie was originally scheduled to be released on December 7.

Film distributor Suhail Mukhtar said the Censor Board had the legal right to alter the name of a film if it was found to be objectionable. However, he said the screening of the film would not stop unless it had "objectionable dialogues and scenes".

Like other Bollywood stars, Akshay Kumar has a sizeable following in Pakistan.