The comedy actor Rangeela played the title role of a donkey-turned-human.[1] The other lead cast included Nisho, Kamal, and Rozina. The central idea of the film was taken from Krishan Chandar's novel "Gadhay Ki Sarguzasht".[2]
After a few weeks of its release, Insan Aur Gadha was banned by the Bhutto Government due to a parody speech scene that the government did not like. "Publicly, the reason given for the ban was that the scene had ridiculed the (Pakistani) masses, by depicting them as a bunch of donkeys".[1][2]
Plot
A donkey desires to be a human, so he prays to God to fulfill his wish. But when his prayer is actually answered and he transforms into a man, he quickly finds out that his life purpose and moral duties were more meaningful and easily identifiable when he was a donkey than when he is a human being. He eventually asks God to change him back into a donkey since he is so disappointed in humanity (or its lack thereof).[1]
Insan Aur Gadha was released on 31 August 1973. Soon after its release at theaters, the Pakistan People Party's government banned the film due to a satirical speech by the donkey-turned-human character, delivered before a large gathering of donkeys. The political government of the time took the satire as an offense. According to a film critic Mushtaq Gazdar, the scene did not conceal the fact that it was parodying Prime Minister Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto's distinctive brand of populist oratory.[1][3][4]
Though, a month later, the film was allowed to be screened again.[5]
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