Zero Dark Thirty will not be shown in Pakistan cinemas

Kathryn Bigelow's film has been nominated for five Oscars and sparked debate about using torture to gain intelligence.

Mohsin Yaseen, general manager for marketing at Cinepax, said derogatory refences to Pakistan's military and intelligence agencies meant any distributor would face awkward questions.

"It's a touchy subject for a Pakistani audience," he said.

The film is set largely in Pakistan. It charts a CIA agent's personal quest to track down the al-Qaeda leader, which ended when US Navy Seals launched a covert raid on a villa in the Pakistani town of Abbotabad, barely 30 miles from the capital Islamabad.

The mission was hugely embarrassing for Pakistan's military, which not only failed to detect the raid but was also apparently oblivious to the presence of the world's most wanted man only a few hundred yards from its officer training academy.

It led to speculation that officers may have protected bin Laden – concerns raised in the film as CIA agents conceal their operation from Pakistani authorities.

Mr Yaseen said his company had recently bought the rights to distribute an Indian film, Tere Bin Laden, which poked fun at the al-Qaeda leader.

Pakistan's censors insisted on so many cuts, he said, it was not possible to show the film at all.

"When Zero Dark Thirty came out, we thought it best just to keep away from it," he said, adding that other distributors had agreed to do the same.

"But I'd love to see it. It's just a film at the end of the day."

The film is available on pirated DVDs, however, and has proved a hit with audiences despite what many see as inaccuracies and exaggerations, such as depicting the modern, neat capital Islamabad as a dust-blown war zone.

Source http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/pakistan/9826950/Zero-Dark-Thirty-will-not-be-shown-in-Pakistan-cinemas.html