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Churails is back up on Zee5 in Pakistan

Churails is back up on Zee5 in Pakistan

Unnamed PTA official told Reuters the authority contacted Zee5 with a directive after receiving complaints about the show.
Updated 09 Oct, 2020

Lauded internationally and shut down in its country of origin, Asim Abbasi's Churails was taken down in Pakistan by the international video-streaming website Zee5 based on its content.

Where four women came together to expose cheating husbands through a covert detective agency in the show, audiences and prominent industry celebrities united in real life to speak against the ban, calling it suffocation of artistic freedom in the country.

Scriptwriter and director Asim Abbasi rejoiced the news with those who stood for the win.

A photo posted by Instagram (@instagram) on

"The witches who wouldn’t burn. Not yet. Not today. Churails is now back on in Pakistan and there is no better woman, better actor, better screen-grab that embodies my current mood!" he posted.

Praising Hina Khwaja for her role in the show, Abbasi further took to congratulate her on dealing gracefully with the hate that came her way.

"You are a rockstar for gracefully dealing with all the needless vilification. You played Sherry and her patriarchal bargain to absolute perfection. No moral policing can ever take that away from you."

An unnamed official of the Pakistan Telecommunications Authority said PTA contacted the platform after receiving complaints about the show.

“We cannot block (content) on our own, but we can write to the platform, which we have done,” the official told Reuters on condition of anonymity.

Following, Zee5 released a statement, calling Churails their "success story" and revealing that the move was done in compliance with the PTA.

“Our aim has always been to create content that resonates strongly with viewers across the globe. Churails has been a phenomenal success story for us and has been lauded and loved the world over."

"The show was taken off the platform in Pakistan purely in compliance with a directive that we received. We have now addressed the matter and reinstated the show on our platform," it read.

Truly, a victory!

Comments

Ali Mehdi Oct 09, 2020 04:10pm
The swift act by the authorities is excellent. They did not turn a deaf ear to the all the pleas made by the masses. They paid heed to it. They did not make it a matter if their ego and gladly sense prevailed. The authorities deserves a big thank you.
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Bakht Oct 09, 2020 05:08pm
I saw one of its clips, it’s too vulgar for our audience.
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Ga Oct 09, 2020 05:24pm
No discussion. No consultation. Just plain kneejerk 'Ban' approach to everything in Pak. That is why there is so much uncertainty in the country. Fire these useless officials!
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Alwyn Oct 09, 2020 05:41pm
So they need indian streaming service.....
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pendoo Oct 09, 2020 07:00pm
@Alwyn Its the other way around for your information. Indian streaming services need Pakistani shows because they cannot produce such high quality content themselves.
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BrownFlower Oct 09, 2020 07:46pm
Now PTA will ban YouTube.
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Alia Oct 09, 2020 07:57pm
@Bakht There is much more vulgarity on your daily morning shows and cheap dramas glorifying patriarchy and polygamy.
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Sachin Oct 09, 2020 08:32pm
A Pakistani series on Zee? What an irony!
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Indian Oct 09, 2020 08:39pm
Churails is surely a big hit among Indian viewers of Zee5 subscribers. This Ban and Lifting of Ban after a couple of hours looks a bit fishy :-) Any way, Pakistani content on Zee5 platform for international viewers are most welcome ..win-win for all .
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Gp65 Oct 09, 2020 09:37pm
@Bakht The audience who finds it vulgar will not watch it anyway. Where is the need for a ban?
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Gp65 Oct 09, 2020 09:38pm
@Alwyn Thiscwas commissioned by Zee as an original series so of course it would be on Zee platform. Zee is the producer.
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Atsul Oct 09, 2020 10:01pm
The reason people can’t stand this play is because of vulgarity spoken, and not because of the concept of the drama. For all the people who are supporting vulgar language in this drama are following western ideas and they should educate themselves that even in the west shows are rated based on thier visual, vocal and theme contents.
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Engr. Ishaq Sohag Oct 09, 2020 11:43pm
Pakistan should stop banning everything. Such trend is not good for the country.
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Glen D'Abreo Oct 10, 2020 12:01am
@Bakht then don't watch it. Get over the idea of telling others what to watch, plese
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lasun Oct 10, 2020 09:47am
Isn't Zee5 an Indian OTT platform and i believed that all indian content is banned
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Chachi's_Chacha Oct 10, 2020 01:16pm
@Bakht Nobody is forcing you to watch it!
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Abu Buad Oct 10, 2020 01:20pm
@Bakht Don't watch it. Problem solved.
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Ismail Oct 11, 2020 09:47am
Our moral and ethical values are compromised in such drama , and as being aired by Indian platform, our new generation should be protected by such indecency.
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Laila Oct 14, 2020 04:27pm
@Atsul I haven't seen the show but considering the ample generalizations you made of viewers, I think it may be vulgar in your view. You just forget all people view content differently because people are not robots. They are diverse. You like certain things, others dont. Simple. Vulgarity was not invented by the West, so claiming viewers of the show are following western ideas is again not constructive nor accurate. We have plenty of organic homegrown vulgarity right here on Pakistani soil everything from bad language, to obscene mujira shows, cinema, videos, comedy etc. Always blaming the West for our society's ills is bizarre and defective. We can never solve problems if we keep this blame game up.
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Laila Oct 14, 2020 04:28pm
@Ismail how is it indecent? Explain.
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