LAHORE: The creator and director of Pakistan’s most beloved children’s television classic, ‘Aynak Wala Jinn’, Hafeez Tahir, has expressed strong shock and anger over the unauthorized use of his iconic creation for a new artificial intelligence-generated film released in cinemas.
In a video statement posted on his official Instagram account, Hafeez Tahir said he was deeply shocked and angered to learn that the name and concept of his life’s artistic creation, ‘Aynak Wala Jinn’, had been used to produce a feature film using AI technology without his consent or permission.
“‘Aynak Wala Jinn’ is my original idea and creation. I am its concept writer, I named it, and I directed it myself,” Tahir said in the statement. He noted that the quality serial was produced for Pakistan Television Corporation (PTV), which earned crores of rupees from its historic run.
View this post on Instagram
Terming the move a “blatant robbery” of his intellectual and creative property, the veteran director stated that no individual or production house has the right to exploit his work without authorization. He has reserved the right to take legal action in the matter.
The controversy comes as Pakistan’s first fully AI-produced commercial film titled ‘Aynak Wala Jinn’ is being screened in cinemas and hailed by its makers as a technological milestone for the local film industry.
It is pertinent to mention that ‘Aynak Wala Jinn’ was a children’s comedy-drama fantasy series that aired on PTV from 1993 to 1996. The serial achieved unprecedented popularity in the country, to the extent that streets would become deserted and children would disappear from playgrounds and alleys when its episode was broadcast.
The show, featuring unforgettable characters like Nastoor Jinn, Zakoota Jinn, Hamoon Jadugar and Bill Batori, remains a defining cultural memory for a generation of Pakistanis and is still regarded as a golden chapter of PTV’s history.
