Let’s look across the border, into Bollywood first.

While 2011’s Delhi Belly was the ultimate breach of family values and shocked audiences with its raunchiness, by 2014 Mardaani could be passed off as staple diet. Criticism hurled at this year’s first AIB roast questioned whether India was ready for bawdy, offensive satire but generally, the changing times have been reflective of changing morals that shun regressive thinking. Bollywood is swearing by swear words like never before regardless of cast, creed or gender (at least some aspect of Indian cinema is non-discriminatory) and the government isn’t moral policing even if language purists may be turning in their graves.

Despite best efforts by Pahlaj Nihalani, the new chairperson of the Indian censor board, filmmakers have bid adieu to the era of politesse. The disputed list of 28 cuss words that surfaced (for a permanent ban) earlier this year was eventually withdrawn after a majority of board members voted against the ban. The new set of guidelines, however, explicitly state that cuss words in films are open to censor review and should only be used if appropriate. In short, the floodgates of perpetual swearing are f*&ing open!

Over to Pakistan

Pakistan’s burgeoning new film industry, though struggling with substance, has been quick to embrace vocal vulgarity in its storylines. While filmgoers perceive films to be how they were right after 1947 - loyal to the community and family whilst having nationalistic allegories - the reality is quite different. Filmmakers are tinkering with profanity as an excuse for creative license. More recently, this trend of huffing and cussing the door alongside closet humour has become an alternative for a thoughtful script.

The first instance of profanity was rather subtle but it still doesn’t take away from the fact that it was met with a one-minute, stunned silence even if immediately subdued by testosterone-fuelled whistles. This came as part and parcel of last year’s super hit Na Maloom Afraad. The covert description of how to make a bomb by a janitor in reference to a man’s genitals had the men in fits of laughter but the women cringing and the children forcefully ear-plugged.

Nabeel Qureshi, director of the film, insists the character demanded it but admits that he may have instigated an unwelcome trend.

"The use of profanity really just depends on the subject of the film and the kind of characters being portrayed," said Nabeel while speaking to Instep. "If I am making a film on prostitution and the prostitute isn’t using expletives at all that won’t do justice to the role. Similarly, it must be understood that in Na Maloom Afraad the character in question is a roadside drug addict so what kind of language are you expecting him to speak? The character technically demands it. However, yes I do admit that it was uncomfortable with families around and unfortunately it feels as if I may have dropped the bar of comedy so low that even I can’t match it."

The last bit of Nabeel’s comment refers to the recent slew of comedy films making it to the big screens, particularly Danish Taimoor-starrer Wrong No. A comedy of errors, Wrong No. revolves around the life of slacker Sallu who thrives on devising ways to escape the monstrosity of his father Haji Abba, and when eventually his plans are met with some success, a riot of mistaken identities unfold. The film offers more flesh than stock when it comes to the depiction of its characters, but ends up being packaged in comedy that is crass, crude and downright vulgar. The dialogues reveled in the foul and the plot seemed to rely more on the culturally profane and unmentionable.

"After seeing Wrong No. I seriously wondered if I have set a wrong precedence for comedy films in the industry," Nabeel added. "But the (crass) humour in NMA wasn’t as direct as it was in Wrong No. There were several jokes in the film that were below the belt and comedy is not always below the belt. It’s like you’ve brought Pakistani cinema back to where it started - in cheap Punjabi theatre. One cannot expect to make a great comedy film by adding three or four crass jokes. But then again it was the job of the censor board to make a note of it."

A case of poor censorship?

The Pakistani censor board has always been uptight about cinematic content, ever ready to throw hissy fits over anything that veers away from the so-called cultural norm - be it a Muslim girl falling for a Hindu in Raanjhana or terrorists having ‘Pakistani’ names in Bangistan. However, the issue is always with nationalism or religious sentiments. Vulgarity and violence usually go unnoticed and when it comes to bombarding families with scattergun-offensiveness, the board seems calmer than ever.

"Even the trailer of Wrong No. that had a couple of such jokes was regularly aired across television channels. Was PEMRA sleeping?" Nabeel questioned. "Pakistani censor board still doesn’t know how to rate films. NMA was given a 15+ rating in the UK not just because of the language but also due to the violence shown in some of the scenes. Basically, audiences need to be made aware of what they are coming to see."

This is one more added loophole in Wrong No. and that’s its branding. Though touted as a family film, Wrong No. was nothing more than a stereotypical, raucous, guy film…a d&*k flick, if you may. There is nothing wrong with portraying realism through profanity, if we must, but it’s about time we got rid of the hypocrisy surrounding it for cussing is just as much a part of our culture as ethnic disparity is. However, to assume that dumbing down comedy with calorific obscenity will make content funnier is foolish and to serve it in a family platter is indeed insane. It is one thing to be liberal and another to feel liberated by taboos.

Yasir Nawaz, the director of Wrong No., feels that it is not the responsibility of the filmmaker but the audience’s discretion. "The thing is there is always viewer discretion while watching a movie. I would say that it is a family movie but then again the family needs to decide whether they want to take their kids or not. I mean that’s what promos are for," Yasir asserted. "Also, we easily accept watching and hearing such words or situations in Bollywood films but I don’t know why we raise the level of scrutiny while watching a Pakistani film. I mean people make their kids dance on ‘Sheila Ki Jawani’ but they have issues watching ‘Selfiyan’. I never support obscenity but at least let us show what is part of our culture and used as a norm."