Mahira Khan has opened up about the ban on Pakistani artists in India, saying said she was “scared” to sign web series on Indian platforms.
Talking about the ban on Pakistani artists, Mahira in an interview with Film Companion, said: “I guess, having experienced it firsthand, it’s just sad. When I think about it… I mean, we have all moved on.”
“That’s what we do, if we don’t have this, we do something else. That’s what happens. But I feel like a great opportunity for the entire subcontinent to come together and collaborate was lost. I think it might happen again. Who knows?” continued the actor.
Khan, who will narrate one of the short stories, Guriya in an upcoming Zee5 series, said that she received offers for other digital projects but turned them down.
“A lot of the other series were offered to me and at that time… I don’t know if anybody will understand when I say this, I was scared. I was genuinely just scared. It wasn’t about what people say, I was just like, ‘I don’t know if I want to go there.’ And there was some content which was amazing, and I didn’t want to miss out on it,” shared the actor.
Made in Pakistan and released on Indian OTT platform ZEE5, Churails has won the ‘OTT Platform Show of the Year’ at the British Asian Media Awards (BMA).
OTT Platform Show of the Year: #Churails, @ZEE5Global Churails released globally by Zee5 is an exclusive series on the platform directed and written by #AsimAbbasi. The show received critical acclaim as it brought together diverse characters & broke stereotypes. #BAMAwards2020pic.twitter.com/3Fp3jr7qC3
Sharing her thoughts on the win, Chief Business Officer at ZEE5 Global, Archana Anand said: “Churails with its rich, bold narrative and the globally relevant storyline has broken stereotypes and opened up the fresh conversation around gender equality not only in South Asia but also in other markets across the globe by putting strong women at the center of its story.”
“Winning this award is a recognition of the tremendous impact that our content has created across key markets and how deeply it is resonating with the audiences,” she added.
According to details, “The British Asian Media Awards (BMA) acknowledge the growing and persistent influence of different cultures and communities living in the UK.”
The awards aims to help the industry develop by showcasing exceptional work and proving the value of Asian media to the wider market.
Written and directed by Asim Abbasi and featuring, Sarwat Gilani, Yasra Rizvi, Nimra Bucha, Meher Bano and Omair Rana among others, Churails is the story of four self-proclaimed ‘Churails’ who come together to open a covert detective agency to expose cheating husbands amongst the city’s elite. As their operations expand, they come to be saviours of abused, harassed and mistreated women. The 10-episode series covers a myriad of issues such as child abuse, sexism, the domination of class and race and aims to challenge the hypocrisy of patriarchal societies.
In October 2020, the show wasbanned for viewers in Pakistan. However, it was restored in less than 48 hours. According to Abbasi, the show was taken off after the streaming platform received complaints from authorities here.
Meanwhile, in November 2020, the State Bank of Pakistan ordered all banks to block Pakistani users from subscribing to Zee5. Zee5 had commissioned five original web series from Pakistan. While two of them have released, three more are in the pipeline including Saba Qamar and Naumaan Ijaz’s Manjogiand Ahad Raza Mir and Sajal Aly’s Dhoop ki Deewar.
Gauhar Khan has responded to the Indian Supreme Court’s refusal to grant the makers and actors of the controversial Amazon Prime Video series Tandav protection from arrest. According to reports, the top court has denied relief to director Ali Abbas Zafar and others seeking quashing of FIRs against them for allegedly hurting religious sentiments of Hindus. The top court has also issued notices to Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, and other states on their pleas.
As per details, the bench hearing the case said that the “right to freedom of speech is not absolute”.
“Your right to freedom of speech is not absolute. You cannot play the role of character that hurts the sentiments of a community,” said the bench.
When Mohammad Zeeshan Ayyub’s lawyer argued that he was just an actor under contract and that the views expressed by his character could not be attributed to him, Justice MR Shah said, “You accepted the contract after reading the script. You cannot hurt religious sentiments.”
Responding to the bench’s comment, a Twitter user said: “Excellent. Next people playing murderers on screen might be tried for the same. After all, they read the script.”
Gauahar retweeted the tweet along with three ‘face with monocle’ emojis.
Tandav has been accused of disrespecting Hindu deities, with several political leaders including Uttar Pradesh deputy chief minister Keshav Prasad Maurya demanding legal action against the team.
Following the backlash and outrage, Tandav creator Ali Abbas Zafar issued an “unconditional apology” on behalf of the team. Calling any resemblance to real-life persons and incidents coincidental, he wrote in a statement, “The cast and crew did not have any intention to offend the sentiments of any individual, caste, community, race, religion or religious beliefs or insult or outrage any institution, political party or person, living or dead. The cast and crew of Tandav take cognizance of the concerns expressed by the people and unconditionally apologize if it has unintentionally hurt anybody’s sentiments.”
Later, Ali issued another statement, in which he said that the makers decided to ‘implement changes’ to the web series after concerns were raised. At least two scenes were removed from the show.
Tandav is a nine-episode series that takes viewers inside the corridors of power and politics. It was released on Amazon Prime Video on January 15.
