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Production on director Kathryn Bigelow’s Osama Bin Laden movie in northern India was disrupted by protests on Friday after Hindu locals became angry that their city had been transformed to portray sworn enemy Pakistan. /> The Hurt Locker filmmaker has been forced to shoot the new project, about the hunt for the Al Qaeda leader, in India after being denied permission to film in neighbouring Pakistan, where the terrorist mastermind was shot and killed by US troops last year.

Crewmembers were subsequently forced to use Chandigarh to mirror the Pakistani city of Lahore, but the transformation has infuriated members of right-wing religious organization Vishva Hindu Parishad (VHP) and they made their feelings known by taking to the streets around the set on Friday.

Some protesters were even seen arguing with the cast and crew as police moved in to deal with the trouble, according to Reuters.

But the campaigners are remaining defiant and are determined to shut down the production for good.

VHP leader Vijay Bhardwaj says, “They have made Chandigarh like Pakistan, as if it is Pakistan. We strongly oppose this and we will not let them put Pakistani flags here and we will not let them shoot for the film.”

Hindus in India have long clashed with Muslims in Pakistan since both gained independence from Britain in 1947.

The movie, titled Zero Dark Thirty, stars Jessica Chastain, Mark Strong, Joel Edgerton and his director brother Nash, and is due to be released later this year.

wennnewsdesk