Speaking of Ra(a)g(i)ni, how can we overlook the eyebrow raising (though much less intellectually stimulating) film Ragini MMS 2, a self-proclaimed ‘horrex’ that has created a stir due to its questionable content.
The horror film has been banned in the province of Punjab. Talking to The Express Tribune, Usman Peerzada, Deputy Chairman of the Punjab Censor Board, shares, “This is the first film that I have had to outrightly ban because it was essentially pornography. It has profanity. There was no space for cutting. It was not worthy of screening altogether.”
After editing, the film has been certified for screening in Sindh and Islamabad as approved by the Sindh Board of Film Censors (SBFC) and Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC), respectively.
Fakhr-e-Alam, Chairman of the SBFC was not available to comment.
As per the details listed on the censorship certificates disclosed to The Express Tribune, cinemas in Sindh are running a 116-minute-long edited version of the film, while those in Islamabad are showing a 121-minute-long edited one.
However, despite certification from the aforementioned censor boards, not all exhibitors have agreed to screen the film. Popular multiplexes, such as Atrium in Karachi and Centaurus Cineplex in Islamabad have chosen not to run the film.
Disparity in the decision of the censor boards can be traced back to the groundbreaking Constitution (Eighteenth Amendment) Act, 2010, which called for the devolution of institutions to the provinces.
Interestingly, it also highlights the possible discrepancy in the intra-state views of what constitutes defensible material in the entertainment industry.
Published in The Express Tribune, March 28th, 2014.
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