Anushka Sharma’s latest movie “Pari” which released in theatres today has run into trouble in Pakistan for its alleged “non-Islamic values” and “anti-Muslim sentiments”. As per reports, Pakistan’s Central Board of Film Censors has decided to ban the movie in cinema halls across the country. This decision was supposedly prompted by the movie’s content which promotes “black magic, some non-Islamic content and anti-Muslim sentiment”.
As per a Pakistani report, the provincial censor boards had decided of Sindh and Punjab had approved the movie, but it was the central censor board, which banned it. The report claimed that owing to the provincial approval, the movie could have released in Sindh and Punjab (but not Islamabad), but the distributors decided to not go this route.
As per a senior CBFC member, the movie’s script, dialogues and storyline went against Islamic Values. Other claims were that the film mixed Quranic verses and Hindu chants. Besides this, it also portrayed Muslims in a “negative light” as they were seen chanting Quranic verses to do black magic. The Chairman of the Pakistan Film Distributors Association Chaudhry Ejaz Kamran, too outright proclaimed that any film which went against their culture and history should be banned in the country.
A Pakistani filmmaker quoted by PTI too surprisingly gave the same opinion and stated that local film distributors and exhibitors need to educated about the films they are importing from abroad. He claimed that Padmavaat too should not have been released in Pakistan as it portrayed Muslims in a “very negative light”.
The banning of Bollywood movies is nothing new in Pakistan. Just last month Akhsay Kumar’s Padman was banned in the country for being against the country’s culture and traditions. Some of the other banned movies include Ek Tha Tiger, Chennai Express, Agent Vinod, Baby, The Dirty Picture and Khiladi 786 to name a few.