Pakistani film ‘Joyland’ gets green flag for screening after cutting some scenes

Censor board of Pakistan has finally green flagged Pakistani film ‘Joyland after cutting few scenes. The film has received multiple international awards, as reported by Geo News.

“Joyland” which was banned earlier has now been allowed for the screening. Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif formed a committee to look into the matter some schools of thought had objected to the movie. The film is set in Lahore and revolves around the story of the youngest son of a middle-class patriarchal Rana family, who joins theatre and falls in love with a transgender starlet.

A week before the film received go ahead, it was banned by Ministry of Information and Broadcasting after receiving complaints that ‘it contains highly objectionable content and repugnant material’, and it became a victim of transphobia in Pakistan, Asian Lite reported.

The Ministry notified that “Written complaints were received that the film contains highly objectionable content which does not conform with the social norms, ethical values and moral standards of our society.” It further stated that this movie is repugnant to the norms of ‘decency and morality as laid down in Section 9 of the Motion Picture Ordinance, 1979.

This is not the first case where a Pakistani film has been banned after deemed of having objectionable content. According to Asian Lite, the very first movie on the list was ‘Jago Hua Savera'(1950), a drama film directed by AJ Kardar based on the struggles of a poor fishing village in former East Pakistan.

As reported by Asian Lite, Homosexuality seems to be an “open secret” which exists, everyone knows but no one is ready to recognise it. Earlier, in Pakistan, the Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Act of 2018 promises citizens their right to self-identify as male, female or a blend of both genders, and to have their identity registered on all official documents, together with passports, National Identification Cards, driving licenses and educational certificates. And this was passed by the Parliament in May 2018.