Federal govt stops release of Zindagi Tamasha

Ag APP

LAHORE: The Punjab government has stopped the release of Sarmad Khoosat’s upcoming film Zindagi Tamasha and formed a committee to review the movie.

The film, written by Nirmal Bano, a fresh graduate from NCA, was set to release on January 24, 2020. Directed and co-produced by Sarmad Khoosat along with his sister Kanwal Khoosat, Zindagi Tamasha is a bilingual movie which has been shot in Lahore.

It features model-turned actress Eman Suleman, Samiya Mumtaz, Arif Hasan and Ali Qureshi in lead roles. Forming the committee, the Punjab government has stopped the release of Zindagi Tamasha and given a deadline of February 3, 2020 to review it. The committee will review reservations from different segments of the society regarding the film.

The Sindh Board of Films and Censor on Tuesday banned Zindagi Tamasha three days before its release. A notification issued by the board said although it had previously examined and cleared Sarmad Khoosat's directorial film, it has now been informed that it may create unrest within a segment of the society.

"If the film is released for public exhibition, it may create unrest within the religious segment of the society and may be detrimental to peace. Therefore, in order to avoid such a situation, it is advised not to release the film till further decision by the Sindh Board of Films Censor," said the notification.

The decision to ban the film follows a similar move by censor authorities in Punjab. Meanwhile, the Central Film Censor Board has decided to approach the Council of Islamic Ideology for critically reviewing feature film Zindagi Tamasha, said Special Assistant to Prime Minister on Information and Broadcasting Dr Firdous Ashiq Awan in a tweet on Tuesday. She said the film producer has also been directed to postpone the release of his film for the time being.