Udta Punjab has opened in Pakistan but locals are choosing to watch pirated copies of the Bollywood film, disappointed that it was cleared with an 'A' certificate despite 100 cuts and many dialogues muted. Director Abhishek Chaubey says that going by their last conversation, the makers had decided against releasing the film across the border as they found the cuts unacceptable. But the film hit Pakistani screens on June 24.

At least in three major localities of Karachi, video shop owners are doing brisk business with customers demanding uncut pirated copies. “If the purpose of making the film was to convey a point about drug abuse and menace, it is now lost after the many cuts in Udta Punjab,“ asserted critic Omair Alavi, admitting that the makers couldn't take the fight against censors to the court in Pakistan.

Mobashir Hasan, chairperson of the Central Board of Film Censors (CBFC), admitted that there were around a 100 cuts. “We have muted the swearing and derogatory words and with certain excisions of scenes,“ he said, adding that references to Pakistan had also been edited out.