© 2021 Chaos+Comrades. All Rights Reserved
Churails, the groundbreaking Pakistani feminist thriller that was taken down from the Indian streaming platform ZEE5 on October 7, was restored to that platform earlier this morning.
The web series, which explores feminist and queer themes, was met with excitement for being the first of its kind in that country. Aesthetically, Churails is a mixture of Tarantino’s classic “Pulp Fiction” and the 2016 Indian comedy, “Lipstick Under My Burkha.” The show centers a group of women who collaborate to avenge themselves from various forms of patriarchal injustice.
The women protagonists sport multi-colored burkhas and are armed with fake guns and call themselves ‘churails,’ or ‘witches.’
The churails are diverse and represent different classes ranging from elite housewives to maids and ex-convicts. One of the show’s central characters is a trans woman named Baby.
The series’ intersectional approach to women’s struggles connects colonialism, colorism, poverty, misogyny and queerness. A lesbian partnership between two of the churails is depicted, as is the personal conflict of a gay supporting character.
Although homosexuality is illegal in Pakistan, it was not the representation of queer characters but rather explicit sexual language that led to the show’s removal from the streaming platform ZEE5 for viewers on Wednesday.
How strange for #Churails to be lauded internationally, and now be shut down in its country of origin. In the very country where hundreds of artists came together to create something that could initiate dialogue and open doors for new narratives. (1)
— Asim Abbasi (@IllicitusProduc) October 7, 2020
With the Pakistani public still shaken by the horrific gang rape that took place on a Lahore Motorway last month, many considered the removal of a series that highlights the narratives of women and minorities as a step away from the cultural change they hoped to see. Now, its restoration onto the platform has provided relief to many who feared that Churails would never again see the light of day in the country where it was filmed.
The show was taken off the platform in Pakistan purely in compliance with a directive that we received. We have now addressed the matter and reinstated the show on our platform. (2)
— Asim Abbasi (@IllicitusProduc) October 9, 2020
© 2021 Chaos+Comrades. All Rights Reserved
