A Pakistani reality show modelled on the popular Love Island format has provoked fierce reactions at home, with a petition in court demanding a nationwide ban for spreading “obscenity and moral corruption”.
Lazawal Ishq, billed by its makers as “Eternal Love”, brings together eight Pakistani contestants, four men and four women, together in a luxury villa in Istanbul, where their interactions are filmed for an Urdu-language series adapted from the Turkish format Aşk Adası.
The show follows a group of single men and women who meet, pair up and take part in challenges designed to test their compatibility, with contestants eliminated each week. The producers have said it focuses on emotional connection and “the search for lifelong love”, though a section of critics on social media and Pakistani talk shows have denounced it for “vulgarity”.
Lazawal Ishq, which producers say will run for 100 episodes, is hosted by the actress Ayesha Omar and will only be available to watch on YouTube, where the first episode aired on 29 September.
At the time of writing, the first episode has drawn more than 1.1 million views, and episode 12, released yesterday, has been watched over 75,000 times.
When the first promotional trailer for Lazawal Ishq was released online in September, it immediately saw a flood of backlash across social media platforms. Within hours, the show was criticised on social media for being “un-Islamic”, arguing that the idea of unmarried men and women living together under constant camera surveillance violates social norms in Pakistan, and some demanding authorities intervene before a single full episode could air.
Responding to the first post on the show’s Instagram where Omar explains the format and the participants are introduced, one person commented: “Have some decency, it’s one thing to sin. And another to publicise it. Fear Allah, what are you leaving behind in this world?”
Another person called it a “cultural embarrassment” and said the makers had mistaken “vulgarity for confidence”.
In late September, Muhammad Faik Shah, chair of the Aman Taraqqi Party, filed a constitutional petition with the Islamabad High Court seeking a nationwide ban on Lazawal Ishq, according to The Tribune.
The petition described the show as promoting “obscenity and moral corruption” and being “against the country’s religio-socio values, traditions and morals”. It asked that PEMRA (Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority) and the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority be ordered to “strictly monitor immoral content” on digital platforms, and that the Council of Islamic Ideology be consulted on how such material should be handled.
The court has since issued notices to several federal authorities, including the government, PEMRA, PTA, the Council of Islamic Ideology and the National Cyber Crime Investigation Agency, ordering them to submit written responses explaining their positions.
However, the show had its supporters, with some describing the backlash as overreach and hypocrisy. “There’s absolutely nothing wrong or ‘immoral’ about Lazawaal Ishq. It’s a Youtube programme and we can trust Pakistani adult viewers to decide for themselves whether they want to watch it or not. The Mullahs & State MUST NOT patronize us. Let us make our own choices,” wrote one person on X, formerly Twitter.
Omar has argued that Lazawal Ishq is a culturally rooted experiment rather than an act of provocation, telling Dawn it is “a first of its kind for Pakistani and Urdu-speaking viewers”.
“Obviously, the promo’s got everyone speculating different things. Some people wrongly assumed that it’s about Pakistani boys and girls living together in a tropical villa. Let me tell you, the show aligns well with our, principles and values. In our society, eternal love leads to the sacred union of matrimony, and that’s what the show is going to end up in,” she told Gulf News.
PEMRA received a number of complaints but said it could not act because the programme is being distributed on YouTube rather than through a licensed television channel.
“It does not fall within our domain,” PEMRA spokesperson Muhammad Tahir told the Associated Press. “We do not regulate YouTube, and this content is not from any television channel. The general public is not aware that YouTube lies outside our regulatory scope.”
In Pakistan, which is a Muslim-majority country where Islamic teachings primarily shape law and public life, maintains conservative social attitudes around relationships and public morality. Romantic or physical intimacy between unmarried men and women is widely regarded as taboo, and portrayals of such behaviour on screen have frequently provoked public outrage.
In 2021, PEMRA warned television channels against showing “indecent” scenes or “hugging and caressing” in dramas. The country has also banned foreign entertainment, including popular Indian soap operas such as Yeh Hai Mohabbatein and Saath Nibhaana Saathiya, and Turkish serials like Ishq-e-Memnu, for promoting what regulators called “immoral or un-Islamic values.”
Pakistani film Joyland (2022), which depicted a same-sex relationship and was its official entry to the Oscars, was briefly banned before being cleared for release.