Shamoon Abbasi requests PM to help remove ban on ‘Durj’ in Pakistan

• Shamoon Abbasi feels there’s some personal vendetta behind the ban on 'Durj'.
• He requested the PM through Twitter to help them get clearance certificate from Islamabad censor board.

After the film 'Durj' failed to obtain a clearance certificate from Islamabad censor board, filmmaker/actor Shamoon Abbasi has requested Prime Minister Imran Khan to help them in the process to get the clearance.

Abbasi took to social media to address the issue to the PM. In a Twitter post on Monday, the actor said that he feels there’s some personal vendetta behind the ban as according to him the film doesn’t have any explicit content to get banned in the country.

“We would like to address the Prime Minister of Pakistan Imran Khan to look into the matter and help us through the process of obtaining a clearance certificate from Islamabad censor board as Punjab and Sindh had cleared the film previously and issued certificates,” he wrote on Twitter.

We would like to address the prime minister of Pakistan@ImranKhanPTI

To look into the matter and help us thru the process of obtaining a clearance certificate from islamabad censor board as punjab and Sindh had cleared the film previously and issued certificates#supportDurj pic.twitter.com/dlPAOfg5mV

— Shamoon Abbasi official (@shamoonAbbasi) October 7, 2019

#DURJ is not an anti state or anti religion film at all and simply depicts the subject of mental illness in a few people that tend to go to certain extents to commit crimes, it's a global fact we can't hide it..

DURJ is not gruesome or vulgar#supportDurj pic.twitter.com/qYpiTJB5VX

— Shamoon Abbasi official (@shamoonAbbasi) October 7, 2019

Earlier he told the Express Tribune that the film was initially cleared by censor boards in both Punjab and Sindh, but was suddenly rejected by the federal censor board, without informing what the actual problem was.

“When I inquired, I received a certificate claiming that the ban was because cannibalism is ‘not a part of our culture and tradition,’ so it should not be showcased. As if it’s a part of anybody’s culture or tradition, and as if the things being shown in our films are a part of our culture at all,” he said.

Abbasi further said that there are personal reasons behind banning the film as people knew it would become a blockbuster in Pakistan.

“It was because I had not involved any channel, or sponsors and made it independently. I sold my furniture to make this movie and for two years I had this beard, which didn’t even allow me to attend events. After which, I am suddenly hearing rumours about people saying that even if the ban is lifted, my film will not reach the screens in Pakistan,” he claimed.

Though the movie has been banned in Pakistan, it will, however, continue to be released in the US, UK, Canada, UAE, Kuwait, Bahrain, Oman and Qatar on October 11.