Swaarangi will be shown in Punjab
Film star Resham’s much-talked-about comeback film Swaarangi has been cleared by the Punjab Censor Board and is scheduled to release on September 11, as earlier announced.
Last week, the film was banned by the Central Board of Film Certification. All cinemas in Islamabad and cantonments across the country follow the central board, while provincial boards decide a film’s fate for the rest of the country.
“It’s been censored in Punjab with zero cuts and we have issued a certificate,” secretary of the Punjab Censor Board, Muhammad Haseeb, told Dawn.com.
Talking exclusively to Dawn.com, producer Mazhar Abbas also confirmed that the Punjab Censor Board had cleared Swaarangi.
About the ban by the central board, he said, “Their notification said it was not recommended to be screened in its present form. I see this as their opinion and not a reason to ban the film. We told them they could edit whatever they deemed objectionable or offensive, but they chose to ban all of it. Punjab, on the other hand, had no objections and okayed it completely.”
Haseeb claimed the central board thought it was promoting drug addiction, so did not allow its release.
“The Punjab board found nothing objectionable in the film. Here we follow the same law that they do but with slight amendments -- Punjab Motion Pictures Amendment Act 2012,” he added. “It came for censor last month and has been cleared now.”
Talking about members of various censor boards, Abbas said the Lahore and Karachi boards comprised artists from the industry, while he had no idea which fields the Islamabad board members belonged to, what was their background, yet they decided if a film should be screened or not.
“A censor board should comprise people who understand a film, which is an art. There are messages between the lines that not everyone can understand. Every frame has a message. I don’t know what is their criteria. It is probably the first Pakistani film to be banned. Anyway, we have challenged the decision of the central board with the Information Ministry and requested them to clear the film, so we could release it countrywide on the 11th.”
Resham's comeback film Swaarangi sees her in the role of the wife of a drug addict — Publicity photo
Besides Resham, Swaarangi also stars Ayub Khoso and has been directed by Fida Hussain, while the background score has been composed by Sahir Ali Bagga. Revolving around a drug addict's family, Swaarangi is based on real-life events and has been shot in rural areas of Punjab near Kalabagh.
Earlier, the film was slated for release on August 28 but was delayed to September 11 to allow the currently running local films a longer stay in the few cinemas in the country.
A press release had quoted producer Mazhar Abbas as saying: “As a gesture to support revival of Pakistani cinema, we are delaying the release of our movie by two weeks. This will help all movies being made in Pakistan to perform at a high level at the box office. This is in the spirit of supporting Pakistani cinema.”
The film will now be released on September 11 along with the biopic Manto.