# Churails
**Churails** (Urdu for "witches") is a Pakistani Urdu-language web series written and directed by Asim Abbasi, which premiered on the India-based streaming platform ZEE5 on 11 August 2020 as a Zindagi Original.[1](https://www.zee5.com/ta/global/web-series/details/churails/0-6-2922) • [2](https://theprint.in/feature/why-pakistani-series-churails-remains-radical/3031690/) Its ten episodes follow four Karachi women who run a secret detective agency under the cover of a clothing store, exposing unfaithful husbands among the city's elite and, as the story develops, helping women in abusive situations.[1](https://www.zee5.com/ta/global/web-series/details/churails/0-6-2922) • [3](https://www.aljazeera.com/features/2020/9/14/in-tv-show-churails-pakistani-women-take-on-societys-demons) The series drew international acclaim for centering women's stories, a temporary ban in Pakistan, and a continuing body of academic study of its portrayal of women and queer characters.[2](https://theprint.in/feature/why-pakistani-series-churails-remains-radical/3031690/)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Format | Urdu-language web series; 1 season, 10 episodes of roughly 55 minutes; drama, mystery, thriller[4](https://watch.plex.tv/en-GB/show/churails) |
| Premiere | 11 August 2020 on ZEE5, available in India, Pakistan, and other international markets[1](https://www.zee5.com/ta/global/web-series/details/churails/0-6-2922) • [2](https://theprint.in/feature/why-pakistani-series-churails-remains-radical/3031690/) |
| Creator | Written and directed by Asim Abbasi; produced by Mo Azmi, Shailja Kejriwal, and Abbasi[2](https://theprint.in/feature/why-pakistani-series-churails-remains-radical/3031690/) • [4](https://watch.plex.tv/en-GB/show/churails) |
| Main cast | Sarwat Gilani (Sara), Yasra Rizvi (Jugnu), Nimra Bucha (Batool), Mehar Bano (Zubaida)[1](https://www.zee5.com/ta/global/web-series/details/churails/0-6-2922) |
| Premise | Four women operate the covert detective agency "Halal Designs" from behind a boutique, investigating infidelity among Karachi's elite[1](https://www.zee5.com/ta/global/web-series/details/churails/0-6-2922) |
| Censorship | Removed from ZEE5 in Pakistan in October 2020 after regulator objections, restored within 48 hours; State Bank payment-blocking order followed in November 2020[5](https://tribune.com.pk/story/2283845/churails-wins-ott-platform-show-of-the-year-at-british-asian-media-awards-1) • [6](https://www.dawn.com/news/1590470/moral-policing) |
| Recognition | "OTT Platform Show of the Year" at the British Asian Media Awards 2020[5](https://tribune.com.pk/story/2283845/churails-wins-ott-platform-show-of-the-year-at-british-asian-media-awards-1) |
## Spoilers
### Premise and characters
The four protagonists are deliberately mismatched women whose backgrounds drive the plot. Sara, played by Sarwat Gilani, is a lawyer-turned-housewife betrayed by her husband; Jugnu, played by Yasra Rizvi, is a disgraced wedding planner; Zubaida, played by Mehar Bano, is a boxer denied her passion; and Batool, played by Nimra Bucha, is an ex-convict with a dark past.[7](https://www.ottplay.com/show/web-series-churails-2020/ddb5ea647dd04) • [8](https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/15299716.2024.2374983) Together they open the agency "Halal Designs", nominally a women's clothing store, and take paid cases exposing cheating husbands while expanding into free work for vulnerable women.[1](https://www.zee5.com/ta/global/web-series/details/churails/0-6-2922) Over the season the investigations widen from infidelity to abusive partners and ultimately a conspiracy to traffic and murder women.[3](https://www.aljazeera.com/features/2020/9/14/in-tv-show-churails-pakistani-women-take-on-societys-demons)
The title reclaims a slur. *Churail* is the Urdu word for "witches", and in Hindustani usage it has become an epithet for women who do not submit to conventional norms; Abbasi said the term represents his protagonists and has nothing to do with dark magic.[9](https://www.sbs.com.au/whats-on/article/churails-is-asim-abbasis-feminist-revolution-wrapped-in-a-detective-thriller/nyh8c47dt) • [10](https://www.dailypioneer.com/uploads/2020/epaper/august/delhi-english-edition-2020-08-08.pdf) The burqa worn by the women on their investigations was, in Abbasi's words, a symbolic depiction of women superheroes in capes, a veil behind which women could do anything they wanted.[11](https://tribune.com.pk/story/2291905/churails-cake-and-censorship?amp=1)
## Production and context
Asim Abbasi, a British-Pakistani filmmaker, had debuted with the feature *Cake* (2018), which was chosen as Pakistan's official entry for the Best Foreign Language Film at the 91st Academy Awards and made him a noted figure in Pakistan's New Wave cinema.[9](https://www.sbs.com.au/whats-on/article/churails-is-asim-abbasis-feminist-revolution-wrapped-in-a-detective-thriller/nyh8c47dt) *Churails* took almost two years to film and finish, was written and produced in Pakistan, and was filmed in Karachi.[3](https://www.aljazeera.com/features/2020/9/14/in-tv-show-churails-pakistani-women-take-on-societys-demons) • [12](https://www.gulf-times.com/story/677887/fiery-online-series-sparks-backlash-but-stays-course) Its release on ZEE5, an Indian platform, mattered because tough Pakistani censorship rules would have prevented such a show from appearing on domestic television.[12](https://www.gulf-times.com/story/677887/fiery-online-series-sparks-backlash-but-stays-course) ZEE5 had commissioned five original web series from Pakistan, of which *Churails* was among the first released.[5](https://tribune.com.pk/story/2283845/churails-wins-ott-platform-show-of-the-year-at-british-asian-media-awards-1)
## Censorship and backlash
The trailer's release in July 2020 caused a stir in Pakistan, and after the series premiered, conservative and religious groups attacked it as vulgar and an assault on cultural and religious values.[13](https://jyx.jyu.fi/bitstreams/72eb5581-a196-4dd5-a5f7-f82a2ae36c15/download) • [8](https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/15299716.2024.2374983) In October 2020 the Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (PEMRA) objected to the show's "bold subject matter" and the platform removed it for Pakistani viewers; it was restored in less than 48 hours amid criticism and social media pressure, with Abbasi saying the removal followed complaints from Pakistani authorities.[6](https://www.dawn.com/news/1590470/moral-policing) • [5](https://tribune.com.pk/story/2283845/churails-wins-ott-platform-show-of-the-year-at-british-asian-media-awards-1) • [14](https://reelpakistan.lums.edu.pk/sites/default/files/user376/reel_pakistan_vol_3_2021-6_khan.pdf)
The pressure continued. In November 2020 the Cabinet Division instructed the [State Bank of Pakistan](https://www.edgepedia.org/state-bank-of-pakistan) to have local banks block online payments for Indian digital content, specifically mentioning the network hosting *Churails*; members of the film and television fraternity believed the order targeted the series, since Indian content had long been banned on Pakistani television channels.[6](https://www.dawn.com/news/1590470/moral-policing) The female cast faced targeted harassment and online abuse, and social media criticism went as far as labeling the show a "Jewish and Indian scheme" because of its ZEE5 association.[15](https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/14680777.2024.2394841) [Human rights](https://www.edgepedia.org/human-rights) activists denounced the ban as an attack on artistic expression and an attempt to silence women's voices.[8](https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/15299716.2024.2374983)
The series' availability later shifted with geopolitics: it became unavailable in India after Pakistani programs were removed from Indian streaming services in May 2025, and it was later among the Zindagi productions acquired by the Pakistan-based platform Begin Watch for streaming in parts of the Middle East.[2](https://theprint.in/feature/why-pakistani-series-churails-remains-radical/3031690/)
## Reception and critical debate
*Churails* won "OTT Platform Show of the Year" at the British Asian Media Awards 2020, and ZEE5's chief business officer Archana Anand credited it with opening conversation around gender equality beyond [South Asia](https://www.edgepedia.org/south-asia).[5](https://tribune.com.pk/story/2283845/churails-wins-ott-platform-show-of-the-year-at-british-asian-media-awards-1) Reviewers praised the performances of the four leads, the production design, and the soundtrack, which included a [Jaun Elia](https://www.edgepedia.org/jaun-elia) ghazal reimagined as an acoustic jazz piece; critics also noted uneven plotting, with one review describing "thematic soup" in which many social issues were raised but not fully explored.[16](https://scroll.in/reel/969985/churails-review-veils-deception-and-secrets-in-zee5-web-series-set-in-karachi/) • [17](https://browngirlmagazine.com/a-review-of-zee-5s-churails-ambition-marred-by-inconsistency/)
Whether the series is feminist was contested from the start. The culture writer Ushah Kazi called classifying it as a feminist series "a little over-enthusiastic", describing it instead as "feminism-curious" and noting that, as a commercial venture, it faced limits on how far it could push the envelope; the actress Yasra Rizvi worried that its creators were not living the realities depicted, calling it appropriation and misrepresentation in certain ways.[3](https://www.aljazeera.com/features/2020/9/14/in-tv-show-churails-pakistani-women-take-on-societys-demons) The Indian journalist and author Anna MM Vetticad called the series "brave yet problematic".[3](https://www.aljazeera.com/features/2020/9/14/in-tv-show-churails-pakistani-women-take-on-societys-demons) Feminist concerns focused on its treatment of class and homosexuality and on whether it commodified feminism.[3](https://www.aljazeera.com/features/2020/9/14/in-tv-show-churails-pakistani-women-take-on-societys-demons)
## Scholarly attention
Six years after release, *Churails* continues to be studied. Shazrah Salama of Bahauddin Zakariya University and Rauha Salam-Salmaoui of the University of Jyväskylä, writing in *Feminist Media Studies*, analyzed the series through theories of hybridity and intersectionality, arguing that it replaced passive or idealized depictions of Pakistani women with characters shaped by different experiences of class, age, and violence.[15](https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/14680777.2024.2394841) • [2](https://theprint.in/feature/why-pakistani-series-churails-remains-radical/3031690/) A paper in the *Journal of Gender Studies* on queer spatiality described the series as a landmark in Pakistani media for challenging heteronormative narratives while showing the pressures that force queer expression to remain concealed, and argued that its portrayal of queer Muslim Pakistani identities contests essentialist narratives about Islamic societies.[8](https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/15299716.2024.2374983) • [2](https://theprint.in/feature/why-pakistani-series-churails-remains-radical/3031690/) A 2025 paper placed it alongside *Qatil Haseenaon Ke Naam* (2021) as works using female anger, sexual autonomy, and solidarity to challenge conventional gender roles.[2](https://theprint.in/feature/why-pakistani-series-churails-remains-radical/3031690/)
## References
1. [Churails, ZEE5 series page](https://www.zee5.com/ta/global/web-series/details/churails/0-6-2922)
2. [Why Pakistani series Churails remains radical six years after its release, ThePrint](https://theprint.in/feature/why-pakistani-series-churails-remains-radical/3031690/)
3. [In TV show 'Churails', Pakistani women take on society's demons, Al Jazeera](https://www.aljazeera.com/features/2020/9/14/in-tv-show-churails-pakistani-women-take-on-societys-demons)
4. [Churails (2020), Plex](https://watch.plex.tv/en-GB/show/churails)
5. ['Churails' wins 'OTT Platform Show of the Year' at British Asian Media Awards, The Express Tribune](https://tribune.com.pk/story/2283845/churails-wins-ott-platform-show-of-the-year-at-british-asian-media-awards-1)
6. [Moral policing, Dawn editorial](https://www.dawn.com/news/1590470/moral-policing)
7. [Churails, OTTplay](https://www.ottplay.com/show/web-series-churails-2020/ddb5ea647dd04)
8. [Navigating the Forbidden: "Churails" and Queer Spatiality, Journal of Gender Studies](https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/15299716.2024.2374983)
9. ['Churails' is Asim Abbasi's feminist revolution wrapped in a detective thriller, SBS](https://www.sbs.com.au/whats-on/article/churails-is-asim-abbasis-feminist-revolution-wrapped-in-a-detective-thriller/nyh8c47dt)
10. [Interview with Asim Abbasi, The Daily Pioneer](https://www.dailypioneer.com/uploads/2020/epaper/august/delhi-english-edition-2020-08-08.pdf)
11. [Churails, Cake and censorship, The Express Tribune](https://tribune.com.pk/story/2291905/churails-cake-and-censorship?amp=1)
12. [Fiery online series sparks backlash but stays course, Gulf Times](https://www.gulf-times.com/story/677887/fiery-online-series-sparks-backlash-but-stays-course)
13. [Hollywood comes to Pakistan: Churails' appropriation of Hollywood detective genre, OJCMT](https://jyx.jyu.fi/bitstreams/72eb5581-a196-4dd5-a5f7-f82a2ae36c15/download)
14. [Reel Pakistan Vol 3 2021, LUMS](https://reelpakistan.lums.edu.pk/sites/default/files/user376/reel_pakistan_vol_3_2021-6_khan.pdf)
15. [Who owns womanhood? 'Churails,' mimicry, hybridity, and the reclamation of gender roles in postcolonial Pakistan, Feminist Media Studies](https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/14680777.2024.2394841)
16. ['Churails' review: Veils, deception and secrets in Zee5's Karachi-set series, Scroll.in](https://scroll.in/reel/969985/churails-review-veils-deception-and-secrets-in-zee5-web-series-set-in-karachi/)
17. [A Review of Zee 5's Churails: Ambition Marred by Inconsistency, Brown Girl Magazine](https://browngirlmagazine.com/a-review-of-zee-5s-churails-ambition-marred-by-inconsistency/)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Film and television › Series and fictional screen worlds › Unscripted, reality, and web-native series › Web-native and streaming-original series › Indian and South Asian web series › Premiered 2003 to 2020*
*Initially written Oct 3, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 15, 2026; Oct 25, 2026; Nov 1, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
*Copyright 2026 EdgeChat AI, a subsidiary of Biostate AI.*
License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license