Showing posts with label Fakhr-e-Alam. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Fakhr-e-Alam. Show all posts
Karachi is in a state of anarchy at the moment-Sarwat Sabri
7:40 AM
Zinia Sen (BOMBAY TIMES; June 25, 2016)
On Wednesday, famous
Pakistani qawwal Amjad Sabri was killed by assailants in Liaquatabad,
Karachi. His elder sibling Sarwat Sabri speaks about the shocking turn
of events. Excerpts: On the morning of June 22, your brother had sung for a special Ramadan programme. What happened later that evening?
I got the devastating news when I was in London. Amjad normally used to take the Liaquatabad route to work. He was going to a channel's office for a programme. Amjad ki kissise dushmani nahin thi (he didn't have any enemies). He always spread the message of love and peace. I don't know whether to smile or cry at the moment, kyun ki hamare liye toh yeh shaheedi maani jaati hai.
Fakhr-e-Alam, chairman of the Sindh Censor Board, claimed in a tweet that your brother had earlier submitted an application for security, but the Home Department didn't act on it and later denied it. Did he fear that there a threat to his life?
Any known face in Karachi faces a threat today, but Amjad was not worried about it. He was an 'unthreatened person', who only feared God and no one else. He had not approached the Home Department for security. In fact, the Home Department reacted quickly to the assassination as everyone loved him. All the politicians from the government's side and from the opposition have paid their last respects to him.
Your mother, Asghari Begum, told a channel that about six months back, three unknown assailants had barged into their Karachi residence but eventually left since Amjad was not at home...
Yes, it is true. Some gunmen had stormed into our house. My sister, who is extremely brave, literally kicked them out. Karachi is in a state of anarchy at the moment and a political disaster is brewing.
Now, who will carry the legacy of the Sabri Brothers forward?
There are quite a few young men in the family. My son and my brothers' kids are keen to learn Sufi music. They are all under 15 and have already started training. My uncle, the famous Maqbool Sabri, would visit us in London. He would train my son and Amjad would come to meet us too. He was a dear friend to my children. Every time he paid us a visit, all of us would play cricket. I used to speak to him at least twice a week.
What was your last meeting like?
Three months ago, he was in London to attend an awards ceremony. We went to the local mosque in Southall. The Imam met him and we were very happy. All those are memories now...
Sindh Censor Board chief says Bangistan hasn't been applied for certification for Pakistan release
7:45 AM
Gaurav Dubey (MID-DAY; August 8, 2015)
A day after Bangistan makers announced that their film had been banned in Pakistan, chairperson of the Sindh Board of Film Censors, Fakhr-e-Alam, has contested the claim. The film starring Riteish Deshmukh and Pulkit Samrat is about two suicide bombers, one Hindu and the other, a Muslim.
Says Alam, “Bangistan has not been imported into Pakistan till date. Unless a local distributor imports it and applies for certification, we cannot preview the film. Until we preview the film, we cannot give a verdict on it. Till date, we have not received any application.”
On Thursday, producer, the film’s producer Ritesh Sidhwani had tweeted saying: “#Bangistan banned in #Pakistan #UAE I’m now told may be #Singapore as well. Can the censor boards in these countries give us a written explanation clearly specifying what did they find offensive in our film. I’m shocked as to how they have missed the message (sic).”
Some reports claimed that the Central Board of Film Censors (CBFC) in Pakistan had decided against certifying the film after a preview on Wednesday afternoon also requested all the provincial boards to impose a ban on Bangistan. However, Alam insists that he neither received any request for certification nor instructions from the CBFC authorities to ban the film. “Maybe, the CBFC received an application, but that usually doesn’t happen since the distributor sends it to all provincial boards at the same time. Perhaps, I am missing a link. But I just checked with my staff again and we have not got any application,” he adds.
When we contacted Sidhwani to comment on Alam’s allegation, he asked us to speak to Pranab Kapadia of Eros International, who is handling the overseas distribution for Bangistan. Kapadia clarifies, “There are three Censor Boards in Pakistan. The first application was made in Islamabad and when they rejected it, we submitted the film in Lahore. However, they too rejected it. So, we didn’t see any merit in applying in Karachi (capital of Sindh) because the central board had already refused to certify it.”
Pakistan Censor chairman asks theatre owners to stay alert following hate messages against Bajrangi Bhaijaan?
8:00 AM
Gaurav Dubey (MID-DAY; July 22, 2015)
Salman Khan-starrer Bajrangi Bhaijaan might be doing good business across the border, but that has spelt trouble for the chairman of Pakistan Censor Board, Fakhr-e-Alam, who claims to have received serious threats for certifying Indian films. Alam, in a series of tweets, had appreciated the film and conveyed that it was not anti-Pakistan. However, that has not gone down well with haters. Fearing a law and order situation, he has now appealed to theatre owners to beef up security around their property.
A source says, “A few people are not happy with the Censor Board’s decision to allow screening of Bajrangi Bhaijaan in Pakistan as they believe it has anti-Pak overtones. So, they have been targeting Alam on various platforms and branding him a traitor.”
Responding to the hate tweets, the Pakistan censor board chief had posted: “ Well NOW I am getting LIFE threats.... i guess every Pakistani who is buying tickets is also a traitor then (sic).”
A trade source in the neighbouring country says, “Alam is just doing his job and people should understand that. There’s nothing in the film that will hurt people’s sentiments here. In fact, people have loved that film here. Akshay Kumar’s Baby was banned because it had an anti-Pakistan story.”
Pakistan-based producer Babar Sheikh calls the threat ‘random’. “It is a random threat from a random Twitter handle, but the Censor Board has asked cinema owners to tighten security. Such mischievous elements are present in every country; there is no particular organisation or political party that has taken offence to the screening of Indian films. The Censor Board panel includes people from our Army and they had approved theatrical exhibition of Bajrangi here. Had there been any anti-Pak message in the film, it wouldn’t have been certified in the first place,” he adds.
Alam remained unavailable for comment.
Bajrangi Bhaijaan reaches Pakistan, without crossing Kashmir
7:57 AM
Salman Khan's first home production makes it across the border with a few cuts; Pakistan's censor chief goes on Twitter to debate over anti-Pak, anti-army, anti-Islam content
Roshmila Bhattacharya (MUMBAI MIRROR; July 20, 2015)
A few weeks prior to its
release, when Salman Khan was asked about the chances of
his first home production, Bajrangi Bhaijaan, opening
in Pakistan this Eid, he'd retorted that for him cinema and cricket have
no borders. He'd warned that if anyone was expecting Pakistan bashing
or Hindu-Muslim conflict, they should stay away from the film which,
through a six-year-old child, erases geographical, political and
communal differences. “As children, we are told to respect people
without discrimination. It's only when we grow up, that apna-paraya
feelings come into play,“ he asserted.
The film did keep its date with Eid across the border with Pakistan censors clearing the film for commercial exhibition with a few cuts. The Central Board of Film Censors (Islamabad, Lahore and Karachi) raised objections to a scene depicting an attack on the Pakistani embassy on the day that Salman's character, Pavan, goes there requesting a visa for the child so she can be transported across the border and reunited with her parents. A riot like situation subsequently develops, no thanks to him, and he flees with her. The scene has been excised even though there's a reference to it later in the film, when Pavan's 'story' is being checked. And along with it, all shots of soldiers of the Pakistani army shown on the border while people are crossing over.
The censors also wanted to mute the chant of 'Bajrangi Bhaijaan' set up by the locals towards the end. According to the certificate issued by the CBFC in Pakistan, the “entire sequence from 'Bajrangi Bhaijaan' onwards (should be) excised (Only shown hero going back).“ There are dialogue cuts as well, including “Pakistani bohot martey hain“ and “Woh Pakistani is ka kya haal kreygey (sic).“ Another interesting deletion is the line, “Kashmir ka chota sa hisa hamrey pass bhi hai. (sic)“ Obviously, Kashmir is not just a contentious issue at global summits and news hour debates. Even a passing reference to the state in a Bollywood entertainer will not pass muster.
Bajrangi Bhaijaan opened in Pakistan on Friday, along with three local films: Bin Roye, Aansoo and Wrong Number. According to exhibitor Amjad Rasheed, all films are running to packed houses due to Eid. Meanwhile, Fakhr-e-Alam, the new chairman of the Sindh Board of Film Censors, Karachi, had, on July 13, tweeted his approval, “Also previewed & certified Bajrangi Bhaijaan & for the record it is not a negative or anti Pakistan film. Infact bajrangi bhaijaan is the most positive film for Pakistan that bollywood has produced in a long time. Totally unexpected. (sic)“ However, on Saturday, July 18, Fakhr-e-Alam was asking Pakistani news channels to go outside movie theatres and ask viewers coming out what was anti-Pakistan in the film. The request on the social media was later extended to included all Pakistanis, and not just anti-Pakistan but anti-army and anti-Islam scenes, dialogue and plot too.
The censor chief went on to admit, “My issue is simple the judgement of my board members & myself is being questioned & maligned on fictatious basis & i will not take tatious basis & i will not take that...(sic)“ He pointed out that he had written an extremely strong note and had banned the Akshay Kumar starrer, Baby. “I know my responsibility & i ensure to work within the parameters of the LAW... I am a Proud Pakistani..i condemn any thing which is anti Pak & or shows Pakistan or its institutions negatively. I do my job with sincerity, (sic)“ he tweeted, warning cable operators from showing the the censored scenes and dialogues.
He also requested all those going to the movies that for every ticket they buy for a foreign film, they should buy one for a Pakistani film as well. “#BinRoye & #WrongNo both very good Pakistani films..& audiences loving them as well,“ he asserted.
The film did keep its date with Eid across the border with Pakistan censors clearing the film for commercial exhibition with a few cuts. The Central Board of Film Censors (Islamabad, Lahore and Karachi) raised objections to a scene depicting an attack on the Pakistani embassy on the day that Salman's character, Pavan, goes there requesting a visa for the child so she can be transported across the border and reunited with her parents. A riot like situation subsequently develops, no thanks to him, and he flees with her. The scene has been excised even though there's a reference to it later in the film, when Pavan's 'story' is being checked. And along with it, all shots of soldiers of the Pakistani army shown on the border while people are crossing over.
The censors also wanted to mute the chant of 'Bajrangi Bhaijaan' set up by the locals towards the end. According to the certificate issued by the CBFC in Pakistan, the “entire sequence from 'Bajrangi Bhaijaan' onwards (should be) excised (Only shown hero going back).“ There are dialogue cuts as well, including “Pakistani bohot martey hain“ and “Woh Pakistani is ka kya haal kreygey (sic).“ Another interesting deletion is the line, “Kashmir ka chota sa hisa hamrey pass bhi hai. (sic)“ Obviously, Kashmir is not just a contentious issue at global summits and news hour debates. Even a passing reference to the state in a Bollywood entertainer will not pass muster.
Bajrangi Bhaijaan opened in Pakistan on Friday, along with three local films: Bin Roye, Aansoo and Wrong Number. According to exhibitor Amjad Rasheed, all films are running to packed houses due to Eid. Meanwhile, Fakhr-e-Alam, the new chairman of the Sindh Board of Film Censors, Karachi, had, on July 13, tweeted his approval, “Also previewed & certified Bajrangi Bhaijaan & for the record it is not a negative or anti Pakistan film. Infact bajrangi bhaijaan is the most positive film for Pakistan that bollywood has produced in a long time. Totally unexpected. (sic)“ However, on Saturday, July 18, Fakhr-e-Alam was asking Pakistani news channels to go outside movie theatres and ask viewers coming out what was anti-Pakistan in the film. The request on the social media was later extended to included all Pakistanis, and not just anti-Pakistan but anti-army and anti-Islam scenes, dialogue and plot too.
The censor chief went on to admit, “My issue is simple the judgement of my board members & myself is being questioned & maligned on fictatious basis & i will not take tatious basis & i will not take that...(sic)“ He pointed out that he had written an extremely strong note and had banned the Akshay Kumar starrer, Baby. “I know my responsibility & i ensure to work within the parameters of the LAW... I am a Proud Pakistani..i condemn any thing which is anti Pak & or shows Pakistan or its institutions negatively. I do my job with sincerity, (sic)“ he tweeted, warning cable operators from showing the the censored scenes and dialogues.
He also requested all those going to the movies that for every ticket they buy for a foreign film, they should buy one for a Pakistani film as well. “#BinRoye & #WrongNo both very good Pakistani films..& audiences loving them as well,“ he asserted.
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