Actor and dancer Nora Fatehi was set to dance to the tunes of Bollywood songs in Dhaka soon. But her performance was ‘disallowed’ by the Bangladesh government, leaving the organisers in panic and her fans upset.
Nora, known for her steamy item songs in Bollywood movies, was not allowed to perform in Dhaka as a part of the Bangladeshi government’s broader austerity measures to “save dollars” amid depleting foreign reserves.
Bangladesh’s Ministry of Cultural Affairs on Monday said Nora was not granted permission permission “given the global situation and to maintain the foreign exchange reserves.”
Nora was scheduled to dance and hand out awards at an event organized by the Women Leadership Corporation.
The move to cancel Nora’s performance came in the wake of the central bank’s restrictions on dollar payments and dwindling foreign exchange reserves in the country. Bangladesh is feeling the heat with the record-high global inflation, coupled with the ongoing war in Ukraine, which came on the back of a devastating coronavirus outbreak that had cratered economies around the world and disrupted global supply chains.
The country’s foreign reserves slipped to $36.33 billion as of October 12 from $46.13 billion a year earlier. Reports state that the current reserves are only enough to cover roughly four months of imports. As a consequence, the Bangladeshi government undertook several measures, including disallowing activities that involve payment in foreign currency. Nora’s performance fell in that category.
Nora Fatehi has worked in Hindi, Tamil, Telugu, and Malayalam films. She had recently featured in the ‘Manike’ song in the upcoming movie ‘Thank God’, which features Ajay Devgn, Siddharth Malhotra, and Rakulpreet. Nora made her on-screen debut in 2014 with the Hindi film Roar: Tigers of the Sundarbans.
However, she came into the limelight in 2015 after participating in the popular reality show Bigg Boss 9. She has since also competed in Jhalak Dikhhla Jaa.
And since then, she has been a regular fixture in the Indian film industry, especially in performing dance numbers—often referred to as item songs in movies. She has been a part of dance numbers in movies like Baahubali, Satyamev Jayate, and Temper.
She has also acted in supporting roles in films like Bharat, Street Dancer 3D, and Bhuj: The Pride of India. She currently judges the reality show Dance Deewane.