Saif Ali Khan, Katrina Kaif's 'Phantom' to release in UAE

Bollywood director Kabir Khan's 'Phantom,' based on the novel 'Mumbai Avengers' by S Hussain Zaidi will release in the UAE.

After being banned in Pakistan (as an Indian propaganda meant to hurt the image of Pakistan abroad) audiences in the UAE were skeptical about its release here.

But UAE cinemas will showcase the Saif Ali Khan and Katrina Kaif starrer as scheduled on August 27.

Major cinema houses like Vox and Novo have opened advanced booking of the movie in all the emirates.

In 'Phantom' Indian spies target those behind the 2008 Mumbai terror attacks, a three-day rampage that saw gunmen attack two luxury hotels, a centre and a busy train station in India's financial capital.

But unlike the novel, which used pseudonyms for those accused of plotting the attack, 'Phantom' apparently names Hafiz Mohammed Saeed (Pakistani militant leader with a $10 million bounty), as well as American David Coleman Headley, who was sentenced to 35 years in a US prison for his role in planning the siege.

In several interviews given to the press during the promotion of the movie, Kabir Khan has reiterated that 'Phantom' is anti-terrorism, not anti-Pakistan.

Beyond the choreographed mayhem of the film's imagined, perfectly coiffed Indian spies, the movie's premise lays bare the anger still felt over the Mumbai attacks that killed 166 people, including six Americans, as well as tensions between the two nuclear-armed rival countries.

The plot revolves around protagonist Daniyal, whose journey to seek justice takes him from India to Europe, America and the volatile Middle East.

However, he finds out that in a mission like this, there is always a price to pay, in this case, a very personal price.

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