Indian movie 'Naam Shabana' banned in Pakistan

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan censor board has banned Indian movie ‘Naam Shabana’ a day after its release, claiming that the film was being screened without editing out the objectionable “scenes related to terrorism”.

Last week, the film was allowed to run but a theatre in Islamabad showed it without the mandatory cuts, leading to the ban."It prompted the censor board to ban the screening of the movie," an official said. He said that some of the scenes related to terrorism were not fit enough to be shown.

The officials at censor board were reluctant to allow its screening but the local distributor Ever Ready Pictures persuaded them to allow the release after editing.

Naam Shabana stars Taapsee Pannu and Manoj Bajpayee in lead roles and was initially released in Pakistan on 31 March.

Naam Shabana is the story of Shabana, her journey from being an aggressive girl who carries guilt and a dark past on her shoulders to becoming a spy for the intelligence agency of the country. It also traces her first major mission that involves eliminating an international arms dealer.

Pakistan banned the screening of Indian films last year after cross border tension between the two countries. The ban was, however, lifted at the start of this year allowing the screening of Indian films after approval by the censor board.