However, the Bombay High Court on Friday pulled up the censor board on “censoring” films instead of “certifying” them.
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The Censor board has suggested 89 cuts to certify the movie.
The Abhishek Chaubey-directed “Udta Punjab”, starring Shahid Kapoor, Alia Bhatt, Diljit Dosanjh and Kareena, deals with the issue of drug abuse in Punjab.
He also tried to justify deletion of two names – Jackie Chain and a sitting Member of Parliament from Punjab, Devendra Singh – saying the reference to these names was clearly defamatory.
On Thursday, the court had noted that the film wants to save people from drugs and was not “made with a view to malign the state or its people”. He assured the bench that the producers may insert a disclaimer which may state that ‘neither the actors nor the makers of the film support or encourage use of expletives or abusive words’.
Shahid Kapoor’s half-brother Ishaan Khattar has reacted to the controversy surrounding his brother’s film “Udta Punjab”.
The court was hearing a plea of the producers who have complained about lack of communication from the board about 13 cuts and the adult certification for the film by Anurag Kashyap’s Phantom Films and Ekta Kapoor’s Balaji Motion Pictures.
CBFC counsel Advait Sethna referred to specific cuts and put forth the justification for suggesting them. Udta Punjab is expected to affect the current ruling party badly in the upcoming assembly elections in the state, as per political analysts.
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.
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Congress has been insisting that BJP is a coalition partner of Akali Dal and is “equally culpable” for the “inaction” of the Punjab government on the drug menace.
