Last week, Na Maloom Afraad 2 landed in another controversy, and this time it was serious. Or, so it seemed. Well into its sixth successful week running (since Eid Al Adha), the film was eerily pulled out of theatres across Punjab, one fine afternoon, following a notice issued from the office of the Secretary, Information & Culture, the Government of Punjab. The reason offered: “persistent complaints from different quarters.”
Whereas it irked producer-director duo Nabeel Qureshi and Fizza Ali Meerza no end, the notice especially offended Usmaan Peerzada, vice chairman of Punjab Film Censor Board, who went on record to say that the decision by the Board could not be disregarded in this way.
It may be mentioned here that the film was earlier declared inappropriate for exhibition in the UAE by the National Media Council, because of the way an Arab character in the film is presented.
Back home, the rumour mill was going in overdrive. The tweeple were busy expressing their scorn as well as amazement. Why did the government find it objectionable now, five weeks after the film’s release? The ban applied only to theatres in Punjab. What did it mean? That the film was ‘kosher’ for people in the rest of the country?
Some even said this could be a publicity gimmick, as the film hadn’t performed as well as Punjab Nahi Jaungi in the province.
The next morning, Qureshi and Meerza were holding a presser, in which they announced that they had moved the court.
Interestingly, the anticlimax happened soon enough, and only a couple of hours later, a PFCB review panel decided that there was “no scene/dialogue” in the film that was vulgar, and so the ban should be lifted.
NMA2 is back. Though, it remains to be seen whether the film’s box office draw gains from the (daylong) ‘controversy’.
