Don't take this moment of pride away from our people, says Sarwat Gilani on Joyland's censor certificate being revoked.

A week before its release, film Joyland is now facing a major setback as the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting has canceled its exhibition license issued months ago.

A copy of ministry's notification was shared on Twitter by JI Senator Mushtaq Ahmad Khan.

The notice issued on November 11 read that the Central Board of Film Censors (CBFC) Islamabad granted the censor certificate on August 17 this year. However, after receiving complaints that 'the film contains highly objectionable material which do not conform with the social values and moral standards of our society and is clearly repugnant to the norms of 'decency and morality; as laid down in Section 9 of the Motion Picture Ordinance, 1979,' the federal government has declared Joyland 'uncertified'.

Actor Sarwat Gilani, who is one of the main stars of Joyland, tweeted that a 'paid smear campaign' has been doing the rounds against the film, recounting that Joyland made history for Pakistani cinema and got cleared by the censor boards. She said the authorities have caved into the pressure from 'some malicious people who have not even seen the film.' She called it shameful that a film made by 200 Pakistanis for over six years, that got standing ovations from Toronto to Cairo to Cannes is 'being hindered in its own country'.

'Don't take away this moment of pride and joy from our people!' she wrote. Gilani also said that no one forcing anyone to watch it so similarly no one should be forced to not watch the film. Calling the viewers smart, she said they know what they want to watch or not and the decision should be up to people.

'Don't insult their intelligence and our hard work,' she concluded.

Singer Abdullah Siddiqui, who also made music for Joyland, took to Instagram stories and wrote, 'They're doing it again! There are smear campaigns to ban Joyland. A dark day for all artists in Pakistan yet again. We need your support to make sure we don't let these violent, insensitive, extremists win again.'

He also requested people to tweet with the hashtag #releasejoyland.

Several other celebrities also took to Twitter to support the film and call for its release. This included actor Osman Khalid Butt who had some questions.

Butt raised the question that the CBFC members had no issue with the film prior to issuing it a clearance certificate. He said it is disheartening to see that...