PAKISTANI censors have banned an Indian comedy film featuring a lookalike of al Qaeda mastermind Osama bin Laden, the film’s distributor said in Islamabad yesterday.

The ban had been anticipated on grounds that Islamist extremists could use it as a pretext for attacks.

“They have banned it in Pakistan,” Nadeem Mandviwall told reporters. “We have moved an appeal against the board decision but there’s little chance we will get relief.”

Mandviwall had earlier said censors had found no fault with the film itself.

“It’s because they think somebody might do something. They’re not saying there’s something wrong in the film or the picture is against Osama bin Laden or maligning him,” he said.

Walwater Media’s production, Tere Bin Laden ("Without You, Bin Laden"), revolves around a television journalist whose sole ambition is to gain residency in the US.

The journalist, played by Pakistani pop star Ali Zafar, films a video with the lookalike, which quickly goes viral online, and attempts to migrate to the US.

“Our full board have watched the movie and the majority has decided it’s not suitable for exhibition,” Masood Elahi, vice chairman of the Censor Board of Pakistan (CBP), told reporters before the ban was imposed. He gave no reasons for the ban.

The 57-member board is made up of members from the media and public representatives and religious clerics.

Mandviwali said a ban would prompt a variety of interest groups to seek similar bars on any film they found objectionable.

Plans had called for the movie, had it escaped a ban, to be shown with the amended title Tere Bin, ("Without You"), because of sensitivity surrounding the name of the al Qaeda chief.