KARACHI: A provincial censor board in Pakistan said on Wednesday it had stopped a private group from screening the Bollywood blockbuster Pathaan in Karachi, after social media users drew attention to online sale of tickets for the event.
The Hindi spy thriller starring megastar Shah Rukh Khan, wildly popular in both India and Pakistan, has been playing to packed movie theaters in India since its release last month. The film, however, has not been released in Pakistan, which banned the screening of Indian movies after ties with New Delhi reached a new low in 2019 over the disputed Kashmir region.
India and Pakistan, both nuclear-armed neighbors, have fought two out of three wars over Kashmir. Both claim the region in full but control it in part.
Chairman of the Sindh Board of Film Censors (SBFC), Khalid Bin Shaheen, told Arab News social media users informed the board that an event management company called Firework Events was organizing a public screening of Pathaan on February 4, 2023, in Karachi’s Khayaban-e-Shahbaz area.
The board then reached out to the company with a warning and was informed that the event had been canceled.
“However, a social media post surfaced again [later] which read that the group was hosting two new fresh slots on Feb. 5, Sunday, after Saturday’s [Feb. 4] tickets were sold out,” Shaheen told Arab News.
He said the SBFC then issued a notice to the company.
“The screening was canceled after our notice, violation of which may lead to strict action under the law,” Shaheen said.
The notice served to Firework Events and seen by Arab News directs the company to “immediately” cancel the screening, and informed it that screening a film without certification was a punishable offense with a jail term of up to three years and a fine of Rs100,000 ($374) or both.
As per Pakistani law, private parties and individuals are not allowed to arrange a public or private exhibition of a film unless the censor board issues a certificate for its exhibition.
“At present, Pathaan’s screening has been categorically restricted by the concerned authority in light of the law,” Shaheen said.
A member of the organizing team who requested anonymity told Arab News the issue was resolved after the censor board physically went to the location of the screening. Consequently, she said, all related social media posts were taken down and the event was canceled.
“We wanted to do it as a private family event which was just hyped up,” the organizer said, adding that the company had refunded ticket money and apologized to buyers.
“But we have the right to ask why action wasn’t taken [against Bollywood screenings] when it was commercially happening since [so] long,” she asked, referring to what she called “Bollywood Nights” at educational institutes and restaurants.
Speaking to Arab News, Umar Khitab Khan, a member of the censor board, said authorities had issued similar notices when such events were organized in the past:
“This has happened in the past and when it was brought to our notice, the board took notice. But whether [the screening was] commercial or not, the screening of an Indian film is illegal.”
Syed Asad Raza, senior superintendent of police, said police took action only after a complaint was registered.
“No complaint has been registered with us,” he said, about plans for the Pathaan screening.
Pakistan, where Bollywood films enjoy massive popularity, first banned Indian movies in 1965, when the two countries went to war. The ban lasted for four decades until 2006 when it was lifted by former military ruler General (retd) Pervez Musharraf.
No Indian movie has been screened in Pakistan for the last four years.
