End credits: Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa imposes ban on five Pashto films

Producers express outrage over decision in absence of a censor board in the province.

PESHAWAR:

The Home and Tribal Affairs department has imposed a ban on five Pashto films released on Eid, saying approval was not first obtained from the censor board – which in fact does not exist.

An official notification issued by the department said the ban has been imposed on Zma Arman, Bhungi Lalay, Loafer, Shart and Qurbani, adding their screenings were a violation of Section IV of the Motion Pictures Act, 1979.

The restriction comes more than a week since the films’ release and after the movies have already attracted a huge audience and done record business, according to producer Arshad Khan whose ‘Loafer’ is the leading attraction followed by Fayaz Khan’s ‘Zma Arman’.

Due to their growing popularity, these films continue to be screened across the city despite the ban.



Power play?

Filmmakers are blaming the provincial government for not being able to set up a censor board in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P).

“The film producers have not obtained certification from the censor board in K-P,” culture minister Shah Farman told The Express Tribune. But how could have they, when there is no censor board in the province. Producers of Pashto films have been obtaining approvals from the censor boards of Sindh and Punjab.

“Film producers have presented the Sindh censor board’s approval certificates so far,” said Musafar Khan, producer of ‘Shart’ and many other movies. He added they there were problems with Punjab’s censor board this year due to which filmmakers approached Sindh, which he added should not be a problem as Sindh is also a part of the country. “We will go to court if the approval is not accepted and their rights are infringed.”

Khan said it was the Punjab censor board that informed the K-P Home and Tribal Affairs department the certification was obtained from Sindh this year, immediately after which authorities issued the ban notice.

Not having its own censor board is a violation of the K-P government’s culture policy draft which clearly urges the establishment of one in its guidelines.

“This is complete injustice with film producers,” said Farman Yousafzai, another filmmaker. “We have told the government to set up K-P’s own censor board a thousand times and give us respite from the Punjab censor board. But all the pleas have only reached deaf ears.”

Yousafzai said that they have been instructed to obtain approval from any censor board in the country, but the go-aheads are still not accepted.

Published in The Express Tribune, August 18^th, 2013.