The devastating news that the iconic film ‘Barbie’ was recalled once more from cinemas by the Punjab Government for a second review has left fans fuming. News outlets said that the film was banned over four words were circulating on social media.
On Saturday night some social media reports said that the screening had halted midway, and cinemas like Cue and Universal replaced the movie schedule for Barbie on their website with ‘Mission Impossible’.
After speaking to an insider from the Punjab Film Censor Board, The Current has been informed that the film had previously been cleared to play in cinemas across Lahore, but it was the Punjab Government that had halted the screening and will release it after a second review. When we asked why there uproar on Barbie, and not Oppenheimer, the insider refused to comment on it.
Speaking to Geo Fact Check, Amir Mir, the caretaker Information and Culture Minister of Punjab revealed ‘Barbie’ was re-called because of concern of the film’s content which showed ‘homosexuality’.
“There is a gay character in it,” Mir said. “You can Google and find out if there is any such thing in it or not.”
Mir added that the film will be re-examined in a few days and will be released to cinemas after censoring a few dialogues.
However, Barbie was not censored in other cities like Islamabad or in Sindh. When Mir was asked about this his response was:
“Other provinces probably like this kind of stuff. We have a problem with it.”
However, we can advice you to not toss away your pink outfit yet, because Barbie is still playing in Chalo Cinemas at Fortress Square Mall. We contacted the cinema and a manager confirmed to us that the film has not been banned.
On the official Instagram page, Chalo Cinema has still posted timings of the ‘Barbie’ movie.
On their Instagram stories, the organisation shared Galaxy Lollywood founder Momin Ali Munshi’s post on how their cinema was the only place that was allowed to play Barbie. There are three censor boards in Pakistan: Sindh, Punjab, and for Central Cantonment. Cantt has a separate censor board, which is present in all provinces, and Barbie has been cleared by their Censor Board which is why it is playing in the only cinema present inside Lahore Cantt, at Fortress Stadium.
