Shah Rukh Khan Under Government Scrutiny for Hiring Videographer Without Valid Visa

Bollywood superstar Shah Rukh Khan recently faced scrutiny from government authorities for hiring a foreign videographer- The Wedding Filmer aka Vishal Punjabi, who lacked a valid work visa. The incident came to light when the popular filmmaker Vishal Punjabi, known for his company “The Wedding Filmer,” was employed by Khan for a project. However, it was later discovered that Punjabi, who holds British citizenship, did not possess the appropriate work permit to carry out his professional duties in India.

He confessed, “I was about to make a big Bollywood film. I had written the script with a friend of mine called Zoya Akhtar. She’s a big director now, but at the time, she was struggling to make her first film… Priyanka had said yes to my film, Shah Rukh had said yes to my film. Me and Reema and Zoya were kicked about it. And then I got deported from India because I didn’t have an OCI. I had a tourist visa, and I was technically not allowed to work on a tourist visa. It was very stupid of me, because I thought it’s India, they’d fix it.”

He continued saying, “I got deported, and there was nothing anybody could do. The fact that I worked with Shah Rukh made my case worse because he was under scrutiny. For some reason, governments aren’t very kind to him, I think it has to do with his religion. It was heartbreaking for him as well because I was in charge of a lot of big projects for him. He tried everything that he could to see me come back… I went through a very hard time, but he worked tirelessly to get me back…”

Following the 26/11 Mumbai attacks, the government changed overnight. Vishal’s deportation was reversed and he was given permission to resume his employment in India after receiving some very strong references from influential individuals.