From ‘Baby’ To ‘PadMan’, Here’s Why These 5 Bollywood Movies Were Banned In Pakistan

Art and culture helps communities across the world connect with each other. Cinema, in particular, helps break barriers. For instance, we have seen many Pakistani shows and they probably have seen many Bollywood movies too. India and Pakistan might have a dark history but people connect on social media and share their mutual love for movies like Shah Rukh Khan’s DDLJ and Fawad Khan’s Zindagi Gulzar Hai.

There are a few Bollywood movies, however, that have been banned by the Pakistani government citing several reasons like cultural issues and showing the country in a bad light. Here’s a list of 5 such popular Bollywood movies banned by the country:

1: PadMan

Akshay Kumar’s movie PadMan is based on the story of Arunachalam Muruganantham, a social activist from Tamil Nadu and the inventor of a low-cost sanitary pad. It addresses taboos surrounding menstruation in India. A movie like this should have been appreciated but the Pakistani government felt the topic of the movie was against culture and religion. “We can’t allow our film distributors to import films which are against our traditions and culture,” Federal Censor Board member Ishaq Ahmed told PTI.

2: Raanjhanaa

There was anyway nothing to be celebrated about Dhanush and Sonam Kapoor’s Raanjhanaa. It was celebrated as a love story but it glorified stalking. It was banned in Pakistan as they found Sonam Kapoor’s character problematic for the portrayal of a Muslim girl.

3: Baby

Akshay Kumar’s espionage thriller Baby, which centers around an Indian spy’s mission to capture a terrorist from a West Asian nation, has been banned in Pakistan for its negative portrayal of Muslims. A representative of the film’s Pakistani distributor said, “Censor boards in Islamabad and Karachi have decided to ban the film because it portrays a negative image of Muslims and the negative characters in the film also have Muslim names.”

4: Bhaag Milkha Bhaag

Farhan Akhtar starrer Bhaag Milkha Bhaag has been banned from releasing in the neighbouring country. The reason for the ban was one of Farhan’s dialogues where he says: “Mujhse nahi hoga. Main Pakistan nahi jaonga.”

5: Phantom

Saif Ali Khan and Katrina Kaif’s movie Phantom was banned because JuD chief and Mumbai attack mastermind Hafiz Saeed was portrayed in a negative light.