Churails TV series which is directed by Asim Abbasi was banned for Pakistani viewers for its “inappropriate” dialogues and content by PEMRA.
A day after all the ruckus online about Pakistani web-series ‘Churails‘ being allegedly banned by Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (PEMRA) and Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA)
But now it seems the series is available for viewing again.
The Pakistani web series was seemingly pulled off from Indian digital streaming platform Zee5, but only for Pakistani audiences.
Many people assumed the worst because it wasn’t cleared by Zee5 or even PEMRA why they removed it.
Banning Culture got to Churails
Many people questioned, particularly Pakistani Zee5 subscribers as to why can’t they view Churails anymore on the Platform.
Many were confused thinking whether it was the doing of that individual platform or PEMRA or PTA?
Things came out of the fog when the director posted a series of tweets in which he grieved about the death of art in Pakistan.
Many people started supporting him and the web series and then again many were also against it, praising the ban.
Lollywood celebrities also took part in this rant. They called out out the hypocrisy of the banning culture.
How Churails got unbanned?
Asim Abbasi, director of Churails, shared this news via an Instagram post.
View this post on InstagramA post shared by Asim Abbasi (@a_abbasi) on
He stated in his post;
“The witches who wouldn’t burn. Not yet. Not today. Churails is now back on in Pakistan and there is no better woman, better actor, better screen-grab that embodies my current mood!”
Praising Hina Khwaja for her role in the show, Abbasi further took to congratulate her on dealing gracefully with the hate that came her way.
“You are a rockstar for gracefully dealing with all the needless vilification. You played Sherry and her patriarchal bargain to absolute perfection. No moral policing can ever take that away from you.”
An unnamed official of the Pakistan Telecommunications Authority said PTA contacted the platform after receiving complaints about the show.
“We cannot block (content) on our own, but we can write to the platform, which we have done,” the official told Reuters on condition of anonymity.
Following, Zee5 released a statement, calling Churails their “success story” and revealing that the move was done in compliance with the PTA.
“Our aim has always been to create content that resonates strongly with viewers across the globe. Churails has been a phenomenal success story for us and has been lauded and loved the world over.”
“The show was taken off the platform in Pakistan purely in compliance with a directive that we received. We have now addressed the matter and reinstated the show on our platform,” it read.