Just before its release, sadly much awaited Pakistani movie ‘Joyland’ has been banned to be screened across the country and actress Alina Khan, who stars in the movie, has expressed disappointment.
Joyland, which received global accolades for its portrayal of a transgender love affair, is banned for ‘highly objectionable material’. The film, which portrays a love affair between a man and a transgender woman, has won global accolades on film festival circuits, including at Cannes earlier this year. It was slated to be released in Pakistan on November 18.
The film was cleared by the country’s provincial as well as central censor boards in August. Films have to be passed by federal as well as provincial censor boards before they are allowed to be screened in theatres. However, a complaint by a religious party leader forced the federal censor board to reverse its earlier decision, and to declare the movie ineligible for the ‘whole of Pakistan.’
Read more: Netizens demand Saim Sadiq’s banned ‘Joyland’ to be released in Pakistan
Now, while speaking exclusively with The Guardian about the sudden ban, Joyland’s transgender star said that she has been actually sad. According to the actress, there’s nothing against Islam in the film and she does not understand how Islam can get endangered by mere films. The 24-year-old claimed that the Pakistani trans community was also very upset.
Khan talked about her character in the movie and said that she loved her role ‘Biba’ in the movie. “She’s a badass, strong-willed, fiercely independent, dominating, outspoken woman, everything that I am not; I loved the role I played,” said Khan. When she was offered the role, she was relieved not to play an ‘oppressed’ character ‘which is the life for most transgenders in Pakistan’.”
Joyland became the first Pakistani feature movie to win a prize at the Cannes Film Festival. After such international success, Khan said that her family which abandoned her welcomed her with open arms. “They accepted me finally. They realised that I was not earning by begging or doing sex work,” she said.
Not only Cannes, in August Joyland won the best movie from the subcontinent at the Indian Film Festival of Melbourne, last month it received the top award at Zagreb’s film festival and it is Pakistan’s entry for best international feature movie at next year’s Oscars, which has received the backing of the Nobel Prize winner Malala Yousafzai, who joined the film as executive producer.
