Defending “Udta Punjab”, Aamir told media here at an event on Wednesday: “It’s a social film which talks about the drug addiction issue of Punjab’s youth”. Even then, the makers were allegedly asked to make 89 cuts in the film, including cuss words.
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“Watching a film is a voluntary thing”, said filmmaker Sudhir Mishra.
Director of the film Abhishek Chaubey said that he and others involved in the making of the film, which is slated for release on June 17, had been pressured by the CBFC into agreeing to cuts suggested by it, so much so that at one stage, he had nearly agreed to the cuts. The member of the CBFC, Ashok Pandit, on behalf of the Indian Film & Television Directors Association has also demanded an apology from Nihalani as soon as possible. “We condemn the statement (by Nihalani)”.
They further described the Nihalani’s leadership at Censor Board as a step backward and said that Nihlani doesn’t deserve to be the Chief. Anurag too who was present at the press con said, “I have not taken any money”.
Mehra said that the committee’s recommendation is that the “scissors” of the censor board must be abolished. “They need to submit the cuts and take the certificate”, Nihalani told reporters.
Producer-director Kabir Khan regretted that the censor board was putting pressure on the film producer to accept cuts or whatever it suggests 10 days before its release. It is an insult to all and the entire industry.
Nihalani, the controversial chairman of the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC), has been the facing criticism from several quarters in the ongoing battle with Abhishek Chaubey’s Udta Punjab after the censor board wanted references to Punjab removed from the movie including its title. However, with a letter dated May 24, the regional CBFC office had referred the film to the revising committee for which the producers completed all requisite formalities and submitted all required documents with the CBFC by June 1.
The actor feels a censor problem at the time of a films release acts as a “setback” for the maker as all the aspects from distribution to marketing are ready by then.
Watch the Udta Punjab press conference here!
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Filmmaker Sudhir Mishra said, “If the idea is to scare us let me me say I am not going to get scared”. Freedom of speech should be there. “It refuses freedom of expression, it tries to suppress their independence and the Censor Board’s behavior definitely can not be said that it is independent of the party in power”, he added.
