Barzakh is a cinematographically astounding collaboration between Indian and Pakistani producers Waqas Hassan and Shailja Kejriwal and it is directed by acclaimed director Asim Abbasi. The six episode series runs on Zindagi TV and their YouTube channel. The show has leading Pakistani stars like Fawad Khan, Sanam Saeed, M Fawad Khan and Salman Shahid. The series will be culminating with its final episode tonight!
But even before that it has come under the furious backlash from the religious extremists in Pakistan. The show has received much hatred for its portrayal of a gay character, Saifullah. Many trolls on social media have shown their resentment for its distortion of Islamic traditions and mythology. They called it against their culture and deemed it a gimmick to lure Western audiences. After receiving much hatred the makers have decided to willingly withdraw the show from YouTube Pakistan. They stated that they do not wish to hurt the sentiments of the viewers and invite further alienation.
Inspite the backlash the show is receiving much love for its cinematography and mystical storyline. With the first season near it’s end, fans have already started speculating about the second season. It brings to notice that creativity shouldn’t be curbed by bigoted opinions of extremists. There is a lot of hardwork and human labour spent behind a show which should be respected. Saifullah’s character comes with a lot of intrinsic depth and resonates with closeted queer experience of many viewers. The decision of the makers shall be implemented from 9 August but the show continues to stream freely internationally.
