July 28, Burmese comedian Metta, who had been banned from making movies for nearly nine years because he ‘criticised’ the Burmese military junta, was allowed to resume his movie career again.

The permission was given during a meeting between artists, journalists and government officials at the Information (and propaganda) Ministry on 20 July, according to Metta’s wife. She added that her husband will start to shoot films on 31 July.

Meanwhile, fans of another famous comedian and variety artist, Zargana (Tweezers in Burmese) are hoping that he would be allowed to resume his creative career. But Zargana himself is not optimistic.

“His (Metta’s) and my positions are not similar,” Zargana told DVB candidly. “From the beginning, Ko Metta could give public performance at ‘pwes’. As for me I can’t do that since 1988. Another thing is, nobody knew that he was banned. The reason being, one, he was performing publicly. As he was entertaining at all the restaurants at night around Rangoon, nobody knew he was banned. But only when he gave an interview to Ko Moe Aye (DVB staff) it was known that he was banned. What is so funny is, only then did the Information Department know that he has been banned. The reason is, he was not banned by the Information (Ministry). As far as I know, he was banned by General Maung Aye from the top. I was banned by means of an edict. He was banned orally. As he was banned with the oral order, ‘I don’t want to see this person on TV’, he was banned with no document. No one realised it.”

When asked why the Burmese public is so fond of comedians and comedies hated by the generals, Zargana said.

“For those of us who live in Rangoon and Mandalay, whether we go to the cinema or stay at home, the situation is like this. Wherever we go, it is depressing. It is depressing to be on the buses and to go to the stores. As it is depressing, they do not want to see other things (films); don’t want to see the crying ones (tragedies) or the fighting ones (actions) - they just want to watch funny films. Some of them (jokes?) are spreading among us. Recently, a joke credited to me came out. An American, an English and a Burmese meet and boast. The American said, we, the Americans had climbed the Everest with no legs. The English said, that’s easy, man. We, the English had crossed the Pacific without arms, twice. Then, the Burmese said; your efforts are nothing. Our country has been governed without the head (brain) for 18 years.”

Zargana (a.k.a.) Thura was a trained dental surgeon who came to prominence in the 1980s for poking fun at the then Burma Socialist Programme Party junta. The comedian has been jailed twice for his social and political activism, first as a political dissident in 1988, then again in 1990. He was freed in 1994 on condition that he no longer practiced as a comedian.