Ae Dil Hai Muskhil row: Twitteratti react to Raj Thackeray's Rs 5 crore penance; accuse him of 'extorting money'

Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) chief Raj Thackeray has finally given his green signal for the release of Karan Johar's Ae Dil Hai Mushkil. On Saturday, Thackeray, director Karan Johar, Bollywood producer and Film & Television Producers Guild of India president Mukesh Bhatt met Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis to put a rest to the ongoing controversy related to Ae Dil Hai Mushkil's release.

MNS chief on Saturday said that the producers casting Pakistani actors will have to pay Rs 5 crore as penance for army welfare. Thackeray also said that he will not block the release of Ae Dil Hai Mushkil after Bhatt assured that Bollywood filmmakers will not cast any Pakistani actors in future.

"All the producers who have Pakistani artistes in their film will as penance have to pay some money, I suggested five crore per film. They will work out the figure now and give the money to the Army Welfare Association," Thackeray said on Saturday after the meeting.

"In the meeting today I told Bhatt and others why to roll out the red carpet for them, when they (in Pakistan) ban films and artists when they want to," he added.

Bhatt also said that Johar has decided to add a slate honouring the Uri attack martyrs and Indian soldiers before the start of Ae Dil Hai Mushkil. The decision has come as a major relief to Johar, as his movie is slated for release on October 28.

However, not all approved of the way the issue was solved. Social media users immediately raised the issue on Twitter and Facebook and said that this "just a way of extorting money from the filmmaker." A few Twitter users even praised Thackeray for making filmmakers donate money for the martyrs.

Here is how the Twitterati reacted: