Mahesh Bhatt: I don't want Pakistan censor board to pre-judge Begum Jaan

The censor board of Pakistan has raised objection to the theme of filmmaker Mahesh Bhatt’s film Begum Jaan and banned it in the theatres there. Although Bhatt is still pursuing the release of the film, he is disappointed that the judgment was passed without watching the film.

“It was conveyed to my distributor in Pakistan that the film will not be imported because it deals with theme and time of Partition. Yes, it does take place in 1947, but the film is on how the people of that time dealt with the issue. It is not a film on Partition, it has no view on Partition,” says Bhatt.

Bhatt even spoke to the authorities across the border but couldn’t bring the conversation to a concrete solution.

“ I told them that if the law of the land does not allow the film to release, I would just bow down but don’t pre - judge the film. It may seem on the surface, that the film is about partition but it is not. The concerned person told me that he would look into the matter, but then there was tone deaf silence. Later, the distributor told me that there was communication to the censor board from the government to not allow the release of the film,” rues Bhatt.

Bhatt is still hoping that his efforts will reap good results.

“They don’t like to import movie, which spotlights the period that they call is from the time of partition. Whatever their reasons are, nothing has been informed to me in writing but then again, I don’t see the film seeing the day of light. I will still try to pursue the matter,” he says and adds, “I am hoping that once the movie releases in India and the people there see it through different resources, then they will see that the film is not, what they thought it is.”