An Indian movie named “Khakee” released in 2004 depicted a federal minister and an additional commissioner of police as accomplices to a terrorist group and another police officer who turned into a ruthless killer. The minister and additional commissioner used police force for their evil purposes. The movie was approved by censor board without any reservation. The government did not take any action against this movie and later it became one of the highest-grossing Hindi films of that year.
But it is the other way around in our country. Pakistan Censor Board has banned this year’s much anticipated movie “Maalik”, after three weeks of its release, for being “biased”, inciting violence and promoting vigilantism. The Ministry of Information, Broadcasting, and National Heritage issued a notification declaring the Urdu feature film “uncertified” according to Section 9 of the Motion Pictures Ordinance, 1979.
According to government officials the film had generated complaints regarding its controversial depiction of some politicians, people of a province and the assassination of a prominent government official by his personal security guard.
Although this movie was discussed as a hope and pride of Pakistan, and it was liked by a huge number of People in its first three weeks. But out of nowhere the censor board banned this movie, though the same censor board approved it a few weeks ago. The movie highlights the corrupt elements in our politics and police department which is a reality. It has not generalized the fact that all politicians are corrupt.
As far as the ethnic bias is concerned, the movie has shown the corrupt people but also people from the same ethnicity who support girls education and strive for bringing a positive change in the system. Whereas, implementing a ban might be considered an overreaction in some countries, it has become the go-to method for the authorities in Pakistan to ban content they deem offensive or controversial.
For a common man the possible reason of this ban might be its theme line “mai is mulk ka Shehri is mulk ka Maalik ho” because Pakistani shehri are common men. How common people can be Maalik in the elitist society of our country?
The most important fact is that Maalik is a fictitious movie. The movie doesn’t claim to be based on true stories. Previously a large number of movies in Pakistan have showed “not so good” depiction of some ethnicities, police officials and politicians. Oscar winning two documentaries by a Pakistani director were based on the social ills of our society which were not supported by some sections of our society but the government supported the director and celebrated her success.
Furthermore, violence has remained the hallmark of our movies especially the Punjabi and Pashto movies but none of those movies faced such consequences.
Has government connected this movie with the current political situation of the country? If this is the case then the director should have waited for a “stable” political period but for that he might have had to wait forever because political stability is a rare commodity in our country.
Moreover, we have seen a lot of Bollywood or Hollywood movies on such issues. About one third of the Indian movies are based on the flaws in their system like corruption, violence and other social evils. In fact a movie “PK” was based on the most sensitive issue of religious dogmas and superstitions.
Although some people protested against the movie but the censor board did not ban it and it emerged as the highest-grossing Indian film of all time.
Similarly, we have seen a lot of Hollywood movies in which politicians, security personnel are depicted as bad guys. The trailer of upcoming movie “Snowden” (based on Edward Snowden) clearly shows how US government keeps a check on its citizens.
Purpose of stating these examples are that censorship is not meant to restrict the freedom of expression. The purpose of movies has been changed in the contemporary world. Movies are now not only a source of entertainment but also a medium for highlighting the social issues. If something is wrong in society then people in film industry are obliged to depict these issues in their movies.
Some of the politicians from Sindh province has declared “Maalik’ an ill-conceived film and are of the view that it will divide Pakistani people & harm national unity. But they have ignored the fact that in this age of technology and free flow of information where a person can access all sorts of information through his smartphone in few moments, how implementing a ban on a movie will keep public from knowing the reality. There are several other factors which have harmed national unity and several of those factors are connected to the political forces.
According to the majority of critics, the movie Maalik didn’t create a dangerous situation for the democracy and viewers should not amalgamate it with political system of Pakistan. Again I’ll say that it is fictitious movie. Accepting the movie with its flaws and facts will encourage other directors to give a magnum opus for Pakistani audience.
The government should lift ban from this movie to support the Pakistani cinema. If the authorities feel that some scenes of the movie are controversial then those scenes should be edited.
Pakistan film industry is going through a phase of revival. We have seen few worth watching movies of international standard during last few years. Directors and producers from the drama industry have entered film industry which has given boost to the later.
Aashir Azeem is one of those directors. His drama serial “Dhuwan” had set new standards for the dramas not only in Pakistan but also in neighboring countries.
His movie “Maalik” is of the same caliber. But by implementing a ban on “Maalik” the government has sent a negative message to the upcoming directors and producers. Instead of such drastic measures, government needs to support film industry by facilitating the movie makers, cinema owners and artists. It will not only help provide a healthy entertainment to the public but also result in revenues for the government.