PM Shehbaz Sharif forms committee to review ban on ‘Joyland’

ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has set up a committee to evaluate complaints filed against the film ‘Joyland’ which was banned almost a week before its release in Pakistan.

According to the notification, the eight-member committee will assess the complaints as well as merits to decide on ‘Joyland’s’ release in Pakistan.

It further stated that the committee would submit its report by November 15.

Salman Sufi, head of PM Shehbaz Sharif’s Strategic Reforms, had previously tweeted that he was not in favour of the ban on films. “I personally do not believe in banning films that highlight issues faced by marginalized segments of our society. People should be trusted to watch & make their own mind.”

PM @CMShehbaz has constituted a high level committee to assess #Joyland and review its ban.

The committee will assess the complaints as well as merits to decide on its release in Pakistan.

Thank you @Marriyum_A for your efforts. #joylandbanned

— Salman Sufi (Get New Covid Booster Today) (@SalmanSufi7) November 14, 2022

Celebrating the ‘transgender culture’ of the country, ‘Joyland’ by Saim Sadiq is the “tale of the sexual revolution that sees a patriarchal family yearn for the birth of a baby boy to continue the family line, while their youngest son secretly joins an erotic dance theatre and falls for an ambitious transsexual starlet.”

Also read: Joyland: Cannes-winner to premiere in Pakistan ‘in good time’