Called for legalisation of theatre dances, not pornography, clarifies Yasir Hussain

Yasir Hussain addressed claims that he had called for the legalisation of pornography and clarified that he wanted dances performed at Lahore theatres to be legalised for the government’s monetary gains.

Earlier, social media users and news outlets had alleged that Hussain was calling for the legalisation of pornography after the actor said “adult entertainment should be legalised” on Ahmed Ali Butt’s podcast.

In a recent appearance on Faysal Qureshi’s podcast Pressure Buhat Hey, Hussain stated, “The dances in Lahore theatres are ‘adult entertainment’ because children do not go there”.

According to the actor, the government could earn money if such performances — which he said had expensive licenses globally — were legalised. He said that if a normal theatre ticket costs Rs1,000 then such shows should charge Rs4,000 per ticket with the excess going towards the government.

“So much revenue would be generated if it was legal. Currently, it is illegal and still occurs daily; if it was legalised the only difference would be that the government gets money.”

Hussain detailed that to shut such adult entertainment down, the government announces that it would eradicate vulgarity, conducts raids, takes money and shuts the theatre down, however, the shows resume a few days later. He added that with the current system, the government and treasury was gaining nothing.

“The other thing I said was that if we were so pure then Pakistan wouldn’t place first or second on porn consumption. We are very involved with this, so why don’t they [the government] legalise these dances?”

The Badshah Begum actor said that pornographers were paying taxes and making their content, rhetorically questioning who he was to have it legalised.

Hussain also urged the censor board to set ratings for films, which “happens across the world” so Pakistani cinema could flourish. He said that if the board decided that a 14-year-old, for example, could not watch a movie, only the producer would bear partial loss.

“The film shouldn’t be banned, rendering adults unable to watch it,” he said, adding that the audiences would watch the content on streaming sights instead.

Commenting on the Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (PEMRA), Hussain said there should be stricter rules for television because children with remotes can control what content is played on the screen. He stated that the recent Shiza and Fiza scene during a show — wherein two twin sisters switch husbands by accident — was not funny but was allowed to run on television despite the seriousness of the matter.

Hussain alleged that intimacy was shown on television and that the things that should be in films are allowed on television but barred from the cinema. He added that banning content on YouTube was “ridiculous” because people could upload those videos elsewhere.