Ash paid for dumping Salman?

Bollywood queen Aishwarya Rai's film "Bride and Prejudice", which was released in Pakistan recently, has proved a flop, since people in Pakistan sympathise with Salman Khan in his dispute with the former Miss World-turned-Bollywood star.

Qaiser Sanaullah, a member of the Cinema Management Association, said that the major reason why people had not come to watch the film was that Pakistanis sympathised with Salman Khan in his dispute with Aishwarya Rai.

"Salman Khan was a Muslim being troubled by 'the Hindu lobby' after he fell in love with Rai and was 'discarded' by her," the Daily Times quoted Sanaullah as saying.

Chaudhry Khaliq, the film distributor, said the film did not get a good response because people had already watched pirated versions of the film.

According to him, the Pakistanis had become used to watching free films on Cable TV, and film piracy must be ended to make cinema popular in Pakistan.

Gurinder Chadha of Bend It Like Beckham has directed the film. The film is about the Bakshi family that lives in Amritsar, India. Mrs Bakshi wants wealthy husbands for her four daughters - Jaya, Lalita, Lakhi, and Maya.