Pakistani filmmakers making great content for Zee5 but how can Pakistan watch?

Streaming platforms are all the rage globally because short format films and web series have started ruling over cinema-goers when the audiences had no access to theaters during the last two years. Digital platforms are the newest avenues to be explored by Pakistani filmmakers and the first Pakistani filmmaker who made his way into a mainstream platform — Zee5 — was Asim Abbasi with his hit series Churails.

Later, we found out that through a Pakistan-India collaborative channel like Zee Zindagi, more Pakistani series will be released on Zee5 and we got Mehreen Jabbar’s Ek Jhoothi Love Story and Haseeb Hassan’s Dhoop Ki Deewar. However, despite being a massive success and critically applauded, a landmark like Churails led to a ban on Zee5’s streaming in Pakistan. And Pakistanis were left with no choice but to resort to pirated links to watch it which should be strongly discouraged.

Interestingly, there are two more Pakistani series that are yet to be released on Zee5 including Abdullahpur Ka Devdas and Mann Jogi. Recently, Zee5 also released Qatil Haseenaon Ke Naam, a desi noir featuring an ensemble cast and now Asim Abbasi has announced his upcoming web series which will also premiere on Zee5. All that being said, the problem remains constant that the streaming portal is inaccessible for Pakistanis to view their own original content.

Read: OST of Qatil Haseenaon Ke Naam is a playful mix of jazzy music & empowering visuals

Pakistani filmmakers are experimenting with fresh genres like murder mysteries, thriller, noir, fantasy, tragedy and more which are non-existent in television and badly explored in films. Web series are giving margin to writers and directors to play on a longer format but it makes no sense if the content is not available to the country that made it.

But how will we watch in Pakistan? Haven’t been able to watch Dhoop Ki Deewar, QHKN and would hate to miss this one too. @shailjaofficial

— AHI (@aamnaisani) December 15, 2021

When Aamna Isani of Something Haute raised the question on Asim Abbasi’s recent tweet, Chief Creative Special Projects at Zee Entertainment Enterprise Ltd, Shailja Kejriwal responded.

“I would absolutely love for everyone in Pakistan to watch! They are my core audience. Artists and journalists need to help make that happen! I cant do it alone! So reaching out to everyone who believes in allowing art to be free. Let’s request the authorities to allow us to do so,” she wrote.

Agreed. Especially btw Ind & Pak as no 1 else can understand our shared culture, humour & common language. However, Pak authorities have an easy answer to why Zee5 is blocked. All Indian airwaves have been blocked to Pakistan long before Zee5. Make art reciprocal. That’s a goal

— Fareshteh Gati Aslam (@Fareshte) December 15, 2021

Zindagi started the acquisition trend and other platforms followed! Our productions are a trailer to the world about what the talent from Pakistan can achieve! Think about where this can go with the right support and encouragement and who will benefit from it the most!

— shailja kejriwal (@shailjaofficial) December 15, 2021

@fawadchaudhry why is there a block on ZEE5 viewing in Pakistan?

— AHI (@aamnaisani) December 15, 2021

When it comes to the Indo-Pak relationships, freedom of expression and creative collaborations are often only short-lived. The State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) directed all banks to stop the online payment of Indian streaming platforms including Zee5 in November 2020.

No official statement about this ban has been given by any media authority despite the fact that this ban culture in Pakistan will greatly affect the viewership of our content.