Movie Barbie release delayed in Punjab, released in Islamabad

According to Pakistani authorities, the release of the Hollywood film ‘Barbie’ in Punjab province has been delayed due to ‘objectionable content’.

Films released in Pakistan require approval from provincial film censor boards. These boards censor any film deemed against the country’s social and cultural values.

According to Punjab Film Censor Board Secretary Farrokh Mehmood, ‘the film will be thoroughly reviewed and where deemed necessary, it will be censored.’

While fans will have to wait to see ‘Barbie’ in Pakistan’s most populous province, the film has been screened in the capital Islamabad and the southern province of Sindh since Friday.

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Nosheen Saad, a resident of Lahore, the capital of Punjab, told AFP, “I have been waiting to see Barbie for many months. There is no reason that it is okay to show it in Karachi or Islamabad but not in Lahore.’

Earlier, a film named Joyland was also banned in the same way, which was cleared by the National Censor Board after the government ordered a review, but the ban remained in place in Punjab.

In the year 2019, the film ‘Zindagi Tamasha’ was also banned.