In social media circles in Pakistan, a trailer that appears as the prologue of a documentary on political corruption has been making the rounds. The clip has been shared by several people including many influential leaders in the country. It was also shared by Chaudhry Fawad Hussain, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leader and former Federal Minister for Information and Broadcasting.
Sharing the clip, the former minister wrote on Twitter, “Coming soon.”
Following this, a trend on Twitter began that Netflix was releasing a documentary on corruption in Pakistan. Pakistanis were excited to share how this will be a big exposure of how the deep state functioned in Pakistan during the tenure of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif.
PTI supporters and several journalists are peddling the trailer as an attack on the Nawaz Sharif government and the Shahbaz Sharif government for the widespread corruption during their reign. Several others are seeing it as a documentary sponsored by Imran Khan-led PTI. A Pakistani Twitter user wrote below the tweet by Fawad Hussain, “Paid documentary sponsored by @PTIofficial Can this documentary be used as proof against Shahbaz Sharif in courts??”
The documentary ‘Behind Closed Doors’
The uproar on social media in Pakistan is over a documentary that is titled ‘Behind Closed Doors.’ As the teaser of the film has garnered attention and spread the notion that it is a documentary on corruption in Pakistan and is to be aired on Netflix, there are no signs that the OTT platform is going to host the film.
The clip was first released on the YouTube channel of Independent POV, the production house which has backed the documentary. As per its website, Independent POV is “an independent production company, producing documentaries that explore the themes of secrecy and abuse of power. The films aim to challenge dogma and encourage thinking.”
About the documentary, a page on the official website of Independent POV mentions: “Politically Exposed Persons (PEPs) are people who hold a public function and as a result present higher risks of being involved in bribery or corruption. Offshore leaks have revealed repeatedly that PEPs use British finance and British offshore jurisdictions to launder their wealth, hide their wealth and re-invest it into the global financial system. London is the place where they buy property, where they take legal action against their critics and where they live when they fall from grace.”
On the website, it is mentioned that the film has contributions from Imran Khan, Arshad Sharif, John-Allan Namu, Tom Stocks, Rachel Davies Teka, Fawad Chaudry, Emin Huseynov, Shazad Akbar, Irfan Hashmi. Among the contributors in former Pak PM Imran Khan, former minister Fawad Chaudhry, and Arshad Sharif. As per reports, Arshad Sharif is a journalist having close ties with the PTI.
Notably, even the website does not mention the distributor of the film. Additionally, hours after the teaser went viral, Pakistani TV host Shiffa Yousafzai said Netflix has not yet officially confirmed that the documentary would be released on the OTT.
Though this trailer has amused Pakistanis, there are no signs that it will be an official Netflix release. Pakistan is already facing a financial and political crisis in the country. Months earlier, the politics in the country saw a churning when Imran Khan lost the confidence motion and Shehbaz Sharif was chosen as the Prime Minister of the country.
In April 2018, Pakistan’s Supreme Court charged former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, his daughter Maryam, and son-in-law Captain Mohammad Safdar on corruption charges related to ownership of properties in London. Following a Supreme Court investigation into the Panama Papers, three-time former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif was ousted from Parliament in July 2017.