Over-the-Top (OTT) platforms have brought entertainment to our fingertips but it has also sparked debates on national sovereignty and media regulations. In South Asia, countries like Bangladesh, Pakistan, and even India have been grappling with the impact of foreign content on their national image and cultural identity.
In 2022, India banned Vidly, a Telenor-supported Pakistani OTT platform, for streaming a movie called ‘Sevak’ because it was allegedly anti-Indian. The star cast of the series includes Mohsin Abbas, Hajra Yamin, Nazarul Hassan, Nayyer Ejaz, and Adnan Jaffar while the script was penned by Saji Gul and directed by Anjum Shahzad.
“The series opens the mind’s eye to the reality of prevailing and growing terrorism garbed in Hindutva ideology,” said Shahzad, in an interview with Dawn. “Each episode is rife with thrill and action, shattering the carefully planted narratives to reveal the truth and manipulation of human suffering and circumstances.”
Conversely, In 2023, the Bangladesh High Court ordered to ban ‘Faraaz’ a Bollywood movie, in cinemas and OTT platforms across Bangladesh. The film, which retold the story of the 2016 cafe attack, was not allowed in the country because it showed that their security agencies were incompetent. This indicates that Bangladesh has a strict policy on media, especially foreign media, on false agendas or propoganda against their country.
Justice Md Khasruzzaman and Justice Md Iqbal Kabir of the Bangladesh High Court had banned the film in the country. They adjudicated on a petition filed by Ruba Ahmad, the mother of Abinta Kabir, who had been killed in the 2016 Holy Artisan terror attack, on which the film is based. In her petition, Ruba claimed that the victim was portrayed in a "derogatory manner". She also claimed that law enforcement agencies in Bangladesh were also portrayed in a bad light.
Earlier in 2024, Netflix removed ‘Annapoorani: the Goddess of Food’ an Indian movie about a Brahmin chef cooking meat after backlash from right-wing Hindu groups. The film came under fire when some far-right Hindu groups filed an FIR against the film's director, producer, and actors.
The main complaint was that the film showed the “Daughter of a Brahmin man” eating meat and making sacrilegious claims that the revered Hindu deity Lord Ram would eat meat, said Ramesh N Solanki, founder and president of the Hindu IT Cell, a group that vows to take legal action against any content “defaming” Hinduism.
Shriraj Nair, a spokesperson for another group, Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP), said they had sent letters complaining to both Netflix and Zee Entertainment on January 9, claiming the movie “hurt the religious sentiments of Hindus and Brahmins of India.”
The film was released theatrically on December 1, 2023, and was available on Netflix from December 29. However, on January 16th, it was reported that the film had been removed from the OTT platform at the request of the licensor.
“We did not expect the removal of a censored film, previously showcased in theatres, from the OTT [streaming] platform,” said Nayanthara, a Tamil film star who worked in the film.
On the other hand, numerous films are being streamed on different streaming platforms in Pakistan where no action whatsoever has been taken to condemn or even stop any of the content.
Through the cinematic lens, movies such as Border, LoC Kargil, Raazi, Uri, etc., have kept an anti-Pakistan perspective as a central theme to the plot. Such movies with nationalist themes, culminating with a unilateral Indian victory over Pakistan, resonate finely with the Indian audience with corresponding commercial benefits for the producers.
According to the 2023 State of Apps report from Data Darbar, OTT was the fourth-largest app subgenre in terms of downloads during 2023. Pakistanis showed an appetite for Netflix and Amazon Prime, contributing to 2.5 million and 1.3 million downloads respectively in 2023.
Conservatively factoring in password sharing, this amounts to a combined $100 million earned per year from the Pakistan market, with even the Federal Board of Revenue taking notice in 2024. We can expect this tax evasion to stop once the Sindh Revenue Board’s new measures are put into place to tax at the source.
However, the absence of OTT regulation from the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA), platforms such as Netflix and Prime regularly distribute Indian-origin content which paint Pakistan or its LEAs in a negative light. The dichotomy of accessing content via OTT is that Pakistan officially prohibits theatre exhibition of Indian content in local cinemas - who have claimed to have suffered financially to the point of ruin.
Anti-Pakistan propaganda remains a recurrent theme in numerous Bollywood movies. In fact, through the cinematic lens, movies such as Border, LoC Kargil, Raazi, Uri, etc., have kept an anti-Pakistan perspective as a central theme to the plot. This is also a recurring theme in shows such as Netflix's Sacred Games as well. Such movies with nationalist themes, culminating with a unilateral Indian victory over Pakistan, resonate finely with the Indian audience with corresponding commercial benefits for their producers.
While content like this is being freely streamed, PTA has yet to determine what regulations should be in place to regulate these platforms.
“We have filed a writ petition on this, we are waiting for the order,” said Nadeem Mandviwala, CEO of Mandviwalla Entertainment - the owner of a major cinema chain in Pakistan who has suffered from the government's policy not to allow Indian movies for theatrical release in Pakistan. “PTA stated in court we cannot stop it. The point is you don’t have one policy. You are only making policies for the cinema. All other platforms where Indian cinema can be accessed, are not stopping it. They have not yet stopped pirated content at DVD shops, there are video shops in the 1000s - which of the Indian content is stopped there?”
Negative portrayal of Pakistan on OTT platforms
There are numerous movies available on various OTT platforms, such as Netflix, Amazon, and others which demonise Pakistan’s LEAs. Some show terrorists using Pakistani soil for nefarious actions against India. Critics say these movies not only negatively show Pakistani institutions but their projection of the country, and even its people in general is also negative.
Such narration aims to strengthen propaganda against Pakistan for sponsoring terrorism across the border and maligning its image. While such content may help reflect the desired narrative through one-sided and inaccurate representation, it inadvertently shows an unprofessional image of its depicted forces.
“The movie reveals only one side where no Indian soldier is shown to be injured or killed in the film resulting in a highly glorified portrayal of the event. The movie, as a romanticised account of the Indian achievement against the enemy, is bound to fill every Indian citizen with pride for India’s success. It is, as stated in the very beginning, “a tribute to those men [martyred in Uri] and all to our brave Indian armed forces and a New India.” wrote Suswagata Chowdhury in International Journal of English Literature and Social Sciences Vol-7, Issue-2; Mar-Apr, 2022 in a critical analysis on the movie Uri: The Surgical Strike that is streaming in Pakistan on Netflix.
Another such movie is Fighter which is available on Netflix. The movie has references from the Pulwama attack which happened in 2019—leading to tensions between the two nuclear-tipped but hostile neighbours.
Fighter delivers exactly what you would expect from an Indian Bollywood-military blockbuster – excitement, passion and a level of patriotism that’s equivalent to being repeatedly punched in the face with the Indian tricolours.
At the same time, it goes against what actually happened and was reported in the news and is tilted towards glorifying the Indian army and portraying the Pakistan Army in a negative light. This way they are showing their point of view or their perspective on the war. This is hurting the sentiments of the people of the country and the institutions as well.
Such narration aims to strengthen the propaganda against Pakistan of sponsoring terrorism across the border and maligning its image. While such content may reflect the desired Indian narrative through one-sided and inaccurate representation, it inadvertently shows an unprofessional image of its depicted forces. Patriotism in the film reaches an extent that it enters into the realm of jingoism.
As a nation, Pakistan should not allow the dissemination of movies which are factually incorrect or at the very least contrary to our values. Netflix, among other platforms, hosts such content, and as a subscription-based service, it means that Pakistani citizens are inadvertently funding the consumption of media which negatively portrays our country Moreover these international platforms benefit from our subscription fees without being taxed for their income generated.
While Barzakh can spark controversy and get banned in Pakistan over impacting the cultural values of Pakistan, there has been no debate or action from the authorities on the content that maligns and negatively impacts the image of our country, defense institutions, and people.
Other movies
- Shershaah - Amazon Prime
- LOC Kargil - Amazon Prime
- Lakshya - Netflix
- Border - Amazon Prime
- The Ghazi Attack - Netflix
- Mission Majnu - Netflix
- Codename: Tiranaga - Netflix
These are some of the movies currently on different streaming platforms which are against Pakistan.
Although these platforms showcase movies and television shows/web series from and for different countries, these Indian movies are still available on the platforms for viewers to watch in the geographical area of Pakistan.
For example, Harry Potter - the widely popular series of movies based on the equally popular series of books - is available to watch on Netflix - just not in Pakistan. So if Netflix can block access to Harry Potter in Pakistan, why can’t Bollywood movies be banned even when a country-wide ban on Bollywood content exists. If not that: Why do platforms like Netflix and Amazon not ban anti-Pakistan and/or Pro-Indian movies when they are directly against our country, our government, our institutions and our people?
While the web series Barzakh can spark controversy and get banned in Pakistan over impacting the cultural values of Pakistan, there has been no debate or action from the authorities on the content that maligns and negatively impacts the image of our country, defense institutions, and people.
In the aftermath of YouTube’s censorship of Zee Entertainment's Pakistani series Barzakh, the question arises as to why negative Indian films have not been banned in Pakistan? Is it because we have yet to figure out OTT regulations in Pakistan? Although we have different regulatory authorities to regulate content whether on the airwaves or on the internet, which authority regulates OTTs? There are grey areas in our systems and a lack of urgency over allowing streaming platforms to show illicit and explicit content (this includes Bollywood and illegal Hollywood content as well).