Dawn Images

It was a strange sequence of events. On Friday, social media was abuzz with the news that the film Na Maloom Afraad 2 (NMA 2) had been banned in Punjab after a successful five-week run. Showbiz glitterati reacted strongly against the ban.

The makers of the film called a press conference at the Karachi Press Club on Saturday to inform the media about the issue. They did hold the presser, but a few hours after the press briefing, it was announced, as confirmed by the director of NMA 2, that the ban had been lifted.

At the press conference, film producer Fizza Ali Meerza said on Friday afternoon she received a notification in which no substantial reasons were given for the ban and only a vague reason was mentioned that complaints against the movie had been received.

“After that it left us with no option such as to go to court the next morning (Saturday). Despite all the troubles, we have filed a petition in the Lahore High Court.”

She said her team also phoned cinema owners in Lahore to know whether there was any problem, and all of them replied the film had been running successfully without any complaints. Their [owners’] own schedule had been disturbed because of the decision.

Replying to another question about the possible reasons, film director Nabeel Qureshi said the film only had entertainment. He, however, said that he had heard from two or three sources that some people had thought the film had vulgar scenes. If that was the case, then why the censor boards of the country cleared it in the first place, he asked.

The movie had so far done business worth more than Rs20 crore, which meant the audience had liked it, he said.

The second possible reason he talked about was the character of an Arab sheikh in the film. Since the Punjab government had a strong friendship with the sheikhs, perhaps that could be the reason that the film had been taken off the screens, he said.

“This is the reason that our film hasn’t been released in the UAE,” he said.

Also read: UAE ban won't affect our storytelling in the future, says Fizza Ali Meerza

Ms Meerza mentioned an Urdu newspaper which had had problems with the film. All the big publications, she noted, had praised the film but they were ignored while a single newspaper was being listened to.

Mr Qureshi in response to a question said that the Punjab government had issued the notification and some members of the censor board did not even know about it.

Ms Meerza said the decision had not only affected the business of the film but was hurting the team’s reputation.

She said Humayun Saeed [the principal actor in Punjab Nahi Jaungi] had called her on Friday saying she had his total support. She also named other people related to the industry (Nadeem Mandviwala, Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy) who had expressed their support for NMA 2.

Originally published in Dawn, October 8th, 2017