No Eid Release For “Lafangey” as Central Board Bans Film

After the announcement of “London Nahi Jaunga” and “Quaid-e-Azam Zindabad” for Eid Ul Azha release, the third film that was announced to release on the occasion was horror-comedy “Lafangey” starring Sami Khan, Mubeen Gabol, Mani and Saleem Mairaj in titular roles. The latest on the film is that it will not be able to release in cinemas on Eid as the film has been banned by Central Board of Film Censors.

The film had been passed by provincial censor boards with a few cuts and the ball was in central board’s court which has given its decision to ban the film last night on 4^th July. According to journalist Hassan Kazmi, the chairman of Central Board of Film Censors, Mr. Arshad Muneer, citing the reasons for ban, said “The film has vulgar and double meaning language and several below the belt words have been used in the conversations. The film cannot be allowed in Pakistani cinemas”.

The decision of censor board to ban a film merely on the grounds of double meaning language came as shock for the trade as this has not been the first time that a Pakistani film has used adult jokes. We have previously seen below the belt jokes in major hits like “Na-Maloom Afraad”, “Wrong No.” and “Mehrunisa V Lub U”. We then spoke to some of major producers from film fraternity and they all expressed the same surprise. Talking to Pakistani Cinema, producer Hassan Zia said, “I have seen the film and there were a few scenes that could have been omitted but that alone cannot be a reason to ban a film. They could have suggested cuts or have rated the film with Adult certificate”.

We then also contacted the producer of “Lafangey” Mr. Tariq Habib who is a UAE based businessman and came to Pakistan to invest in the local entertainment industry. The producer, who already had planned to invest in more films in Pakistan after “Lafangey”, is very disappointed at the decision of censor board. He is considering the option of full-board review of his film.

Will the censor board allow the film to release in cinemas after the full-board review, remains to be seen. For now, it is for sure that film will not be able to release as per schedule on Eid-ul-Azha.