Pakistan film that received death threats for 'blasphemy' is tipped for Oscars 2021

A film that set off a storm of controversy in Pakistan has been made the country’s official entry to the Oscars this year, despite objections from religious and political groups that led to boycott calls and death threats for its producer.

The drama entitled Zindagi Tamasha (Circus of Life), which premiered at the Busan International Film Festival last year, was termed blasphemous in the country by fundamentalist groups, including Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan (TLP), a far-right Islamist political party which said the film "might lead [people] to deviate from Islam and the prophet."

Set to release last year in January, the film’s trailer triggered the reaction from fundamentalists even before the movie itself could hit cinemas, and the release date kept getting pushed further back amid a series of protests, open letters, and multiple reviews by the government censors.

In July 2020, Pakistan’s Senate Committee for Human Rights approved the release of the film, although this decision again got embroiled in a legal battle.