Pakistani General Zia's military government of the day tried to get the film stopped weeks after its release but Sarwar Bhatti managed to get a stay order which allowed the film to remain in cinemas for a two year period.
This Punjabi movie Maula Jat (1979) became a classic blood and gore landmark film that ushered in a trend of extremely violent Punjabi movies all through the decade of 1980's in Pakistan.It was used as a model and was copied by many film producers and directors to achieve similar box-office success.
Currently, The sequel is in making with Hamza Ali Abbasi playing lead role and Bilal Lashari directing it.
Maula Jatt was a such a big success in the 1980s and spawned a number of sequels, becoming the first ever successful unofficial franchise for a Lollywood title. Maula Jat's success spawned Maula Jat tey Noorie Nut as well as Maula Jat in London and continues to influence popular culture. Productions such as the 2002 play Jatt and Bond use Maula Jat as their "inspiration". Now Pakistan's highest grossing film Waar director Bilal Lashari has said that he is going to make official remake of Maula Jatt.