Mr. Nihalani, in the eye of a storm for demanding a large number of cuts, said nine members of the Board had watched the film and “unanimously” cleared it after the proposed 13 cuts.
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Abhishek Chaubey’s directorial Udta Punjab stars Shahid Kapoor, Kareena Kapoor Khan, Alia Bhatt & Diljit Dosanjh.
CBFC chief Pahlaj Nihalani, however, said the film certification board did not ask for removal of word “Punjab” from the title.
Meanwhile, the CEO of censor board, which faced flak for suggesting several cuts in “Udta Punjab”, on Monday welcomed the Bombay High Court’s verdict in favour of its release, saying the ruling was not a setback or a matter of “victory” or “defeat”.
The HC cleared the film for release, but directed the filmmaker to delete a urination scene and asked for a revised disclaimer.
However, Anurag Kashyaps company, Phantom Films, which has produced the movie moved the HC challenging the order.
The court said, “It is undisputed that the CBFC possesses powers to call for cuts, changes, deletions in a movie while certifying it”. What’s the point of making a film if you cut majority of scenes from it?
No details were given about which cuts should be made but Indian media has widely reported that the CBFC wants the filmmakers to remove all references to Punjab, including in the title. They said, the board is only a certification body and should not act as a censor board.
The Bombay High Court has given its decision on Udta Punjab censorship. “This is a big day for not just us, the makers of UdtaPunjab but the entire film industry.We’ve been told by the honourable court that freedom of expression is not to be frowned at”. “It has been a gruelling few weeks to get here but we are happy to bring the film in its true form to NRI audiences worldwide”.
The filmmakers can go to a tribunal if they disagree with the changes.
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Kejriwal, who supported the release of the film, dealing with drug abuse in Punjab, tweeted, “Udta punjab judgement is a tight slap on Modi regime’s intolerance”. Censor Board has to ensure that drugs are not glamorised and we have to see to this. We neither found anything in the film that depicted Punjab in bad light, nor anything that would affect the sovereignty or integrity of India, as the CBFC claimed, it added.
