Aashir Azeem’s film 'Maalik' banned across Pakistan

ISLAMABAD: The federal government banned Aashir Azeem’s film Maalik nationwide in a notification issued Wednesday.

The Ministry of Information, Broadcasting, and National Heritage issued a notification declaring the Urdu feature film “uncertified” according to Section 9 of the Motion Pictures Ordinance, 1979.

The film, released three weeks ago, had generated complaints regarding its controversial depiction of the Taliban and parallels with the assassination of a prominent government official.

Earlier, the Sindh government last night decided to ban the film Maalik and then revoked that notice all in the space of a few hours.
The culture ministry had drafted a notification ordering a ban on the movie for being ‘biased’ and inciting violence.

However, before it was formally issued, Chief Minister Qaim Ali Shah intervened and asked the ministry not to issue it as it would be ‘against the freedom of expression’.

The film team had assured the Sindh government objectionable scenes would be cut, but the film’s certification was revoked as it was not done.