Pari banned in Pakistan; censors claim Anushka Sharma's film is 'against Islamic values'

Just the day Anushka Sharma’s supernatural film Pari hits the theatres across the country after receiving above-average to good reviews , the film has been banned in Pakistan. According to a report by GeoTV, the film was cleared by the provincial censor boards like those in Sindh and Punjab but the Central Board of Film Certification, based out of Islamabad, has banned the film. After this, the distributors have also decided to not screen the film in the theatres.

Pakistan-based Nueplex Cinemas posted on Facebook, confirming the news and at the same time claiming to refund the money for already-sold tickets. The film not only mixed Quranic verses with Hindu chants but also portrayed Muslims in a negative light as they were shown using Quranic verses to do black magic, reports GeoTV. [caption id=“attachment_4352415” align=“alignnone” width=“825”]  Anushka Sharma in a still from Pari. YouTube[/caption] Before Pari, Akshay Kumar’s latest film Padman was also banned in Pakistan. The censor board said the film dealt with issues like menstruation which are still considered taboos in their society. Earlier, Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s magnum opus Padmaavat, to everyone’s surprise, was cleared in Pakistan. The apprehension around its release stemmed from the fact that a significant section of viewers in India  alleged that the film portrays Islam in a bad light, owing to the barbaric mannerisms of Alauddin Khilji depicted in the film. Pari sees Anushka Sharma don the hat of a producer for the third time, after NH10 and Phillauri; she essayed the role of a ghost in the latter, too. However, this character was a positive one unlike her role in this new release. Pari is jointly bankrolled by her production house Clean Slate Films, and KriArj Entertainment.