Border 2 banned in Gulf countries over India-Pakistan theme

Border 2, one of the major Hindi releases of 2026, is scheduled to hit cinemas tomorrow amid high anticipation from audiences in India and overseas. However, despite strong advance bookings and widespread excitement, viewers in the Gulf region, including the UAE and other GCC countries, will not be able to watch the film, as it has been denied release there.

The decision follows a familiar trend in the region, where films perceived to contain sensitive or politically charged content related to Pakistan often face restrictions. According to a report by Bollywood Hungama, "Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the UAE will not be releasing Border 2. By now, it's a given



that films perceived as having 'anti-Pakistan' content don’t get a release in this belt."

The report further mentioned that the makers did attempt to secure a release in the Gulf countries, but their efforts proved unsuccessful. Border 2 thus becomes the second Hindi film after Dhurandhar, released last year, to face a ban in the region. That said, the makers appear confident that the film's box office potential in India alone is strong enough to offset the loss of the Gulf market. A similar situation played out with Aditya Dhar's directorial, which went on to perform exceptionally well at the domestic box office, making the overseas setback largely inconsequential.