Govt postpones ‘Zindagi Tamasha’ release after TLP announces protest

• Citing its potential to create unrest within religious segments of society, govt has decided to defer the film's release.
• TLP spokesperson was quoted as saying the film's content is blasphemous.

The Ministry of Information and Broadcasting has postponed the release of feature film ‘Zindagi Tamasha’ across the country, after religious group Tehreek-i-Labbaik Pakistan (TLP) announced protest against the film's release.

Citing its potential to create unrest within the religious segments of society, government has decided to defer the film release until Council of Islamic Ideology (CII) critically reviews the film.

Special Advisor to Prime Minister for Information and Broadcasting, Firdous Ashiq Awan tweeted, “The Central Board of Film has decided to immediately reach out to the Council of Islamic Ideology (CII) to critically review Zindagi Tamasha. Producer of the film has been directed to postpone the film’s release.”

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— Dr. Firdous Ashiq Awan (@Dr_FirdousPTI) January 21, 2020

TLP has also deferred the protests scheduled in response to the decision of the Sindh and Punjab governments to block the release of the controversial film.

The film is about a man shunned after a video of him dancing at a wedding goes viral. TLP spokesperson was quoted as saying the film's content is blasphemous.

Sarmad Khoosat’s ‘Zindagi Tamasha’ was scheduled to release on January 24, initially came under scrutiny for having ‘objectionable content’. However, Khoosat has cleared several times that his film doesn’t have any inappropriate content nor hurt anyone’s sentiments.