On Wednesday, the producers of Udta Punjab moved the Bombay High Court against the CBFC for advising 89 cuts and giving an A certificate to the film.
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Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi will lead a protest sit-in by the party on June 13 at Jalandhar against the scourge of drugs and deteriorating law and order in Punjab, a senior party leader said.
The CBFC – chaired by the BJP-appointed Pahlaj Nihalani – is said to have reportedly demanded an adjustment of the narrative with as many as 89 cuts.
The HC, while agreeing with the suggestion of the CBFC for chopping this scene in the drugthemed film, disapproved of it asking for deletion of references to “Punjab”.
The movie slated to release on June 17 is likely to get delayed because of the issue going on about the cuts.
To which the court posed the question, “Are you suggesting that the film depicts Punjab as only a drug capital.?”
Neo-Noir drama Udta Punjab has been in the controversy regarding its miff with censor board for weeks now.
Justice SC Dharmadhikari who is hearing the case said yesterday that he was stunned about the entie hue and cry on the part of CBFC for calling the film anti-Punjab.
The court also said if the movie was glorifying the use of drugs, then it should be banned. Directing the Censor Board not to be overtly critical, the court said, “The job of the board is to certify and not censor.” .
Asked for her reaction to the veteran filmmaker’s word of praise, Ekta told PTI, “Shyam sir (Shyam Benegal) (is) a very revered man. The filmmakers had recently approached FCAT”, the official said.
Sethna justified the board’s stand on certain “cuts” saying that the film refers to Punjab’s sitting MP Devendra Singh by name; likewise, in the movie there is a dog named Jacky Chan, which is defamatory.
Censor Board Chief Pahlaj Nihalani commented on the movie makers that may be the AAP had given money to Anurag Kashyap to make a movie on drug theme.
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Directed by Abhishek Chaubey, the film, starring Shahid Kapoor, Alia Bhatt, Kareena Kapoor-Khan and Diljit Dosanjh in leading roles, deals with the topic of drugs menace in Punjab. He said that dont try to kill creativity if people will try to cut creativity they would kill the soul that is all we artist have.
