The fragile sentiments of Indians are famously hurt all the time, whether one eats beef or wears skirts – but for once, not many people seem to be protesting against what seems to be a movie with a strong social message.
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“It can not get a “U” certificate, and I am told the producers never asked for a universal certificate”.
There should be a serious deliberation on the Mukul Mudgal report and more recently of the committee headed by Shyam Benegal regarding the removal of the censorship powers of the CBFC and only assigning it a role for film certification.
It all followed Nihalani’s remarks to TimesNow news channel: “I have heard he (Kashyap) has taken money from AAP. I hope the film gets justice at the Tribunal.
The High Court allowed the company to amend its petition, thus allowing them to challenge the Censor Board’s order suggesting 13 cuts in the film. “It is an insult to the entire film industry”, Pandit said.
If the Censor Board indeed had a problem with the word “Punjab”, why wasn’t it pointed out at the time of the release of its trailer?
Kashyap, who went through a lot of struggle to release his debut film “Black Friday”, said he was writing the Facebook post to tell his side of story as “trolls” were trying to divert the issue “with blatant lies and accusations”.
Filmmaker Imtiaz Ali said: “Anything that attacks freedom of speech and expression is frustrating and should be questioned”.
Adding that the voice of a filmmaker should not be throttled, he said, “It reflects badly on CBFC”.
With Punjab due for state elections, the controversy has assumed political overtones. He claimed that Censor board chief Pahlaj Nihlani’s statement proved that he had stopped the movie on BJP’s instructions.
Veteran artist Jeetendra, who calls himself a “proud son of Punjab”, says Udta Punjab – a motion picture co-produced by his home banner Balaji Motion Pictures – is not expected at stigmatizing the state in any capacity.
“Him pressurising us to delay release, and accepting cuts is and was a thought through strategy”.
Meanwhile Indian Film and Television Directors Association with Udta Punjab team today held a press conference in Mumbai.
Bollywood producers and directors rallied behind Kashyap in his fight with the censor board.
His party spokesperson, Ashish Khetan, directly linked Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Punjab chief minister Parkash Singh Badal to the censors’ move. Yet another film and its slaughter at the hands of the CBFC – that is made into a national news item and flogged to death with opinions meant to fan more debate and endless hours of controversy.
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The CBFC lawyer argued that it had objections to the reference to Punjab, its people and the language used in the film.
