Senate panel seeks Bullah suspension until title, dialogue changes
The release of Bullah, a Pakistani film written by veteran screenwriter Nasir Adeeb and starring Shaan Shahid and Saleem Shah, has been placed in uncertainty after a Senate standing committee recommended that its screening be halted until its title is changed and certain dialogues are revised.
The recommendation emerged from a meeting of the Senate Standing Committee on Information and Broadcasting held on Thursday, July 24, chaired by Senator Sarmad Ali. The session was convened to review concerns that had been raised about the film’s certification process by the Central Board of Film Censors.
Officials from the CBFC appeared before the committee to defend the approval process, telling members that Bullah had already been cleared without any cuts by both the Punjab and Sindh censor boards under the same title. They explained that the federal board’s jurisdiction was limited to Islamabad Capital Territory and cantonment areas, and maintained that the CBFC chairman could not unilaterally reject a film. Certification decisions, they clarified, were taken collectively by the board, with the chairman holding only a casting vote in the event of a tie.
The officials further noted that if the committee believed the film should be banned or its title changed, the matter could be referred to the federal government, which serves as the next appellate authority under the applicable legal framework.
Senator Pervaiz Rashid pushed back on the board’s defence, questioning whether Nasir Adeeb’s reputation as a screenwriter was a sufficient basis for approving the film’s content. He pointed out that Adeeb was primarily known for writing violence-based films, particularly Maula Jatt, and argued that this background did not establish the screenwriter’s credentials as an authority on history, national personalities or Pakistan’s cultural traditions. Senator Rashid also remarked that Maula Jatt had introduced the “gandasa” as a cultural symbol to mainstream audiences, saying he had not been aware of the weapon before the film popularised it.
Following the discussion, committee chairman Senator Sarmad Ali concluded the session by proposing that the film’s title be changed and that certain dialogues be revised before it is permitted to screen. He further suggested that Bullah remain suspended until these recommended changes have been implemented.
The meeting was attended by Senators Abdul Shakoor Khan, Syed Waqar Mehdi, Pervaiz Rashid and Jan Mohammad, along with Secretary Information Ashfaq Ahmed Khalil and officials from the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting and the Central Board of Film Censors.
The film’s makers have not publicly responded to the committee’s recommendations. With both provincial censor boards having already cleared the film without cuts, the situation now rests on what the federal government decides to do with the parliamentary committee’s proposal.
