PadMan not to release in Pakistan

Akshay Kumar’s much-awaited film on menstrual hygiene, PadMan, released across the world on Friday. The film opened to decent box-office numbers and has garnered a lot of positive reviews from viewers and critics alike.

However, the film which centres around menstruation and hygiene has been banned from being released in Pakistan. According to reports, members of the Punjab Film Censor Board have refused to watch the film and have claimed that taboo subject films will not be allowed screening in cinemas. A source from the board said that all the members were hesitant to watch the film due to its content regarding women’s menstruation hygiene.

“Earlier there was an issue with Padmaavat and the members are facing criticism on issuing it a certificate. In such circumstances, we cannot allow a film whose name, subject and story is not acceptable yet in our society. Objections were also raised on scenes and dialogues of the films that are very sensitive,” a senior member of Punjab film Censor Board was quoted as saying.

Similarly, the Federal Censor Board also denied issuing an NOC to the film and announced a ban on Padman in all cinemas across the country. However, the Central Board of Film Censors (CBFC) Chairman Mobashir Hasan did not make any announcement regarding this on Twitter.

On the other hand, film distributors were also criticised by the local film producers on purchasing Indian films that are “ruining Islamic traditions, history and culture,” referring to Padmaavat which was released in cinemas last month. Petitions to ban the movie from being screened were also recently filed in the Lahore High Court.

Film distributors had displayed posters on PadMan across cinemas but after this latest development, all posters were removed.

Based on the life of Arunachalam Muruganantham, PadMan, which starres Akshay Kumar, Radhika Apte and Sonam Kapoor, is the story of how one man came up with a revolutionary method of producing cost-effective sanitary napkins and empowered thousands of women across the country in the process.