The film folks in Mumbai have always been accused of being insecure and over eager to protect their own commercial interests. Producers, directors and actors have always been seen bowing down in front of a dictatorial Censor Board or the tyrannies of political outfits like the Shiv Sena rather than fight back as a united force.
But the appointment of a complete non-entity as the Chairman of Central Board of Film Certification has changed all that. Pahlaj Nihalani’s poor credentials as a filmmaker and a complete lack of understanding of the medium have slowly brought the film fraternity together. Slowly but surely.
The proverbial last straw came in the form of the CBFC Chairman’s diktat to remove the word ‘Punjab’ from the title of the film ‘Udta Punjab’. Not only that, Mr Nihalani wanted all references to Punjab removed; he wanted 89 cuts in all. His reasoning, “When you put a disclaimer that it’s fiction, how can you use references to real places.” Now can you argue to that? You can’t, so you do the next best thing. You say enough is enough and decide to take this man head-on.
Shahid Kapoor, Alia Bhatt defend their film ‘Udta Punjab’
Co-producer Anurag Kashyap did just that – first by going to the media on Tuesday and a day after knocking at the doors of the Mumbai High Court.
A fire has been lit. Many affected filmmakers then joined the force on Wednesday. Imtiaz Ali, Zoya Akhtar, Sudhir Mishra, Mukesh and Mahesh Bhatt, Satish Kaushik, Anurag Kashyap, Udta Punjab director Abhishek Chaubey, Vikas Bahl, film’s actors Shahid Kapoor and Alia Bhatt held a press conference in protest against the unfair censorship of Udta Punjab.
Bollywood Bats for Udta Punjab
Hours after the press conference former CBFC Chief Leela Samson wrote in support of Udta Punjab in a facebook post.
The case of Udta Punjab was further strengthened when head of the Revamp Committee of Censor Board – Shyam Benegal, spoke in favour of the film. According to media reports, after watching the movie exclusively screened for him, the director has called it a “very well-made film”.
Aamir supports ‘Udta Punjab’
Superstar Aamir Khan too has come out in support. The actor said, “It reflects badly on CBFC. I hope the film gets justice at the Tribunal. The voice of the filmmaker shouldn’t be throttled. There should be freedom of speech. Every Indian should have this right.”
As Pahlaj Nihalali finally broke his silence on Wednesday, he landed himself in further trouble. His insinuation that, Aam Admi Party paid money to Anurag Kashyap was laughed off by the director, but AAP has asked him to apologise.
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