(From left) Stills from the acclaimed series, Churails, and the Fawad Khan-led Barzakh. Pics/AFP, Yogen Shah, Instagram

On May 8, the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting issued an advisory directing OTT platforms, media streaming platforms, and intermediaries to remove all streaming content originating from Pakistan. In the ministry’s circular, the platforms were advised to “discontinue the web series, films, songs, podcasts, and other streaming media content, having its origins in Pakistan, with immediate effect.”

This comes amid the ongoing India-Pakistan conflict. In keeping with the advisory, by the morning of May 9, Zee5 had pulled down its much-loved Pakistani shows Churails (2020) and Barzakh (2024). Pakistani dramas Humsafar and Zindagi Gulzar Hai, which used to stream on Hum TV’s YouTube channel, were no longer available in India.

Through its subsidiary Zindagi, Zee5 had introduced Pakistani content to Indian audiences, bringing director Asim Abbasi’s Churails in 2020. Abbasi’s Barzakh too had found takers, as Pakistani actor Fawad Khan returned to Indian screens with the series.

An insider tells mid-day, “Zindagi became defunct right after the April 22 attack in Pahalgam, while the shows continued to stream on Zee5. But now, the shows have been pulled down from Zee5 and its YouTube channel around the globe. The shows’ promotional materials too have been removed. The filmmaker and the cast have no way of accessing their work anymore.”

The advisory affects not only the past and current works, but also those in the pipeline. Jo Bachay Hain Sang Samet Lo, which is Netflix’s first Pakistani original series, will no longer première in India. An insider from the streaming giant reveals, “Though Netflix boasts simultaneous releases across the globe, this show will not stream in India. It’s scheduled for a late June release in the remaining parts of the world.”

The advisory’s reach extends beyond visual media. The legacy Instagram account of late Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan as well as that of Pasoori singer Ali Sethi, who lives in the US, have become inaccessible in India from May 9. Audio streaming platforms in India have initiated the process of removing works by Pakistani artistes from their library.

A Jio Saavn insider says, “It will take a while to do this as there is overlapping in certain cases. For instance, Atif Aslam has sung many songs for Indian productions; those can’t be dropped. Nusrat saab is a legend. How do we remove all his music, some of which were in collaboration with Indian artistes?” 

The Internet Freedom Foundation, an Indian not-for-profit organization, opposed the I&B Ministry’s advisory. An excerpt from the foundation’s statement read, “The Internet Freedom Foundation [IFF] mourns the lives lost in the April 22 Pahalgam attack and affirms that national security is a paramount constitutional duty, yet insists that security measures themselves must remain within constitutional limits. The Ministry of Information and Broadcasting’s ‘advisory’ ordering every OTT service, streaming platform, and intermediary in India to remove all content having its origins in Pakistan exceeds those limits.”

Earlier this week, Ali Sethi-Shae Gill’s Pasoori (2022) was recreated as Pasoori Nu and within hours of its release a meme fest was unleashed on social media and hate comments poured in. The Rochak Kohli-Ali Sethi composition, co-written by Gurpreet Saini and Ali and sung by Arijit Singh-Tulsi Kumar is actually an authorized recreation for Satyaprem Ki Katha.

In an exclusive conversation, Rochak Kohli spoke to us about it all.

When the makers got the rights in place, music composer Rochak Kohli, who has given us independent songs as well as Bollywood songs like Lae Dooba (Aiyaary, 2018), Tu Hi Yaar Mera (Pati Patni Aur Woh, 2019) and others, was entrusted to compose the recreation. “I took it as a challenge to make my own version of it because I couldn’t have done a ‘better’ version of the original. The original one is a masterpiece. Recreating a song is not easy at all because there is a baggage of a superhit and a legendary song on you that you are supposed to recreate. Ali and I have wanted to work together for a long time and with Pasoori Nu, that has finally happened.”

As soon as the song dropped, the social media furor began. The composer feels that when a popular song like that is recreated people just begin with hate comments even before listening to it. “The idea of recreating this song itself turned people off but when they actually listened to it, they took it in a positive way. In fact, I saw these reactions of people turn positive overnight. There were some comments that were made by people even before they had heard the song.

Rochak says, “There is a set of people on social media who are just there to criticize, and we the creators, we all know it. Whether it was this song or any other song, if we put out something there are people who just put up hate comments. Appreciation on social media is not considered cool anymore. So, people don’t appreciate your work on social media.”

Getting hate comments and memes is almost a norm. Rochak feels that even songs that are not recreations get hate. “Isme koi badi baat nahi hai ki original hai ya recreation. But itni hatred ki zaroorat hi nahi thi. We are not hurting anyone’s sentiments; we have just put our song out.”