KARACHI: Despite advertisements appearing in the press, Indian movie Haider, which stars Shahid Kapoor, will not be released in Pakistan after it failed to secure the approval of censors.
Amjad Rasheed, the owner of Distribution Club, the company responsible for importing the film in to Pakistan told The Express Tribune on Monday that the censor board had refused to clear it for screening.
“We had submitted the film to the Central Board of Film Certification in Islamabad and after viewing the film, the board refused to play the film due to sensitive content,” Rasheed told The Express Tribune.
It must be noted that the film had been advertised with the warning that its display would be ‘subject to censor’.
Despite being refused a certification from CBFC, the distributors had a chance to screen it if it was submitted and subsequently cleared by provincial censor boards. However, the distributors said they will not be opting for it.
“We realise the situation at the Line of Control and if one board has refused to certify the film for some reason, then the wise thing would be to not to offer the film at all,” explained Rasheed.
Contrary to rumours, Haider had actually managed to secure a No Objection Certificate from the government for its import.
An adaptation of William Shakespeare’s Hamlet, Haider was set against the backdrop of Kashmir with Shahid Kapoor playing the eponymous role.
It was scheduled to be released on October 2 to become the third instalment of Bhardwaj’s Shakespearean trilogy after Maqbool (2002) and Omkara (2006).