Drama serial Jalan has been in the news ever since the drama’s promos went on-air. Initially, the promos had left the audience skeptical about the drama’s theme and when the drama finally went on-air, it received criticisms from the audience for having indecent content. The complaints about the drama’s content got to the point where PEMRA had to take notice of the situation and intervened.
Subsequently, the drama serial Jalan was banned by PEMRA to be aired on television a few days ago. One would think that would be the end of the tale but apparently, the tale continues on. In the latest turn of events, Sindh High Court has reversed the ban on drama serial Jalan, allowing the drama to air its next episode as per its schedule.
PEMRA overstepping
A tweet posted by a journalist Omair Alvi earlier in the day announced Sindh High Court’s decision to overrule PEMRA’s ban on the drama. As per the court’s decision, PEMRA has no right to put a ban on any on-air content as it is a regulatory body that is meant to regulate the content of a drama, not put a ban on it.
Sindh High Court to the rescue … the next episode of #Jalan will air tomorrow as SHC suspends PEMRA’s ban on the play.
This was bound to happen because #PEMRA is supposed to regulate, not ban a drama. Congratulations @fahadmustafa26 @aabis_raza @Jerjees @asfand316 and team!
— Omair Alavi (@omair78) September 15, 2020
According to Something Haute, there were some sources close to the drama that had said that the team behind Jalan was in talks with PEMRA to reach a compromise. Talks about cutting out the objectionable content from the episodes were on between the two parties. Looks like Jalan‘s team has succeeded in defending their project as just a day before Jalan‘s new episode is to be aired, the ban on the drama has been lifted.
The news of PEMRA banning the airing of drama serial Jalan on ARY Digital had sparked a whole discussion on social media on what this move could mean for the future of dramas in Pakistan. If one side was celebrating the ban because it meant “indecent” content would be pulled off-air, the other side brought up valid arguments about the rather questionable precedent this ban would set for other dramas.
Well, Jalan lives to see another day on-air. It will be interesting to see which changes, if any, the drama has gone through to avoid getting a warning from PEMRA again. And what this situation can mean for the Pakistani drama industry as a whole.
