In an unprecedented move, members of the Bollywood industry threw their thundering support behind producer Anurag Kashyap and his Udta Punjab team at a press conference yesterday as they expressed their collective displeasure against India’s censorship body.
It’s the first time that the Hindi film industry has stood together and protested against their creative freedom being muzzled by the Central Board For Film Certification (CBFC).
Udta Punjab is a drama about the rampant drug abuse problem in the North Indian state of Punjab and stars Shahid Kapoor, Alia Bhatt and Kareena Kapoor Khan. The CBFC has reportedly ordered the makers of the film to make 89 cuts, putting its release on June 17 in India in jeopardy and drawing the ire of the film’s makers, in particular co-producer Kashyap, who spent much of Tuesday and yesterday tweeting about the issue.
In addition to leading the press conference, Kashyap took his row with India’s censor board to a court on Wednesday, challenging the dozens of cuts and changes. The court was expected to take up the petition on the same day. It could reject the matter or order reconsideration.
CBFC chief Pahlaj Nihalani said in a newspaper interview yesterday that the movie wrongly depicts 70 per cent of people of the state consuming drugs, and defaming them. He told reporters that the censor board has approved the movie for screening in theatres with the cuts ordered.
In another interview, Nihalani accused Kashyap of taking money from the Aam Aadmi political party, and called him an “egotistical man”. He also labelled Kashyap’s behaviour as a “child being denied a toy”.
“This kind of bullying attitude will not be tolerated … And such moves [are] their way of warning the producers and studios not to support certain kind of films … All this because a man up there [Nihalani] comes up with a systematic method to muzzle films,” said Kashyap at the conference, which was attended by directors such as Imtiaz Ali, Mahesh Bhatt, Zoya Akhtar, and producers such as Ekta Kapoor and Mukesh Bhatt.
While Kashyap maintained that only the audience has the right to reject a film, at the press conference, producer Mukesh Bhatt called for Nihalani’s resignation.
“It’s a shame what’s happening and it’s ridiculous. He must be removed immediately. This episode exposes the vicious system that has been created by the CBFC. This has gone on for too long and we will not stand silent this time … Filmmakers need to be taken seriously,” said Bhatt.
The controversy is being given political overtones with the AAP lashing out at Nihalani, tweeting: “Pahalaj Nihalani’s statement makes it amply clear that he has stopped the film on BJP’s [Bharatiya Janata Party] instructions.”
Director Ali, who has made films such as Highway, said that such heavy-handed censoring by the CBFC is encroaching upon artistic freedom.
“I haven’t seen Udta Punjab and I am not supporting the film because my friends are acting in it… Filmmakers should have the choice to tell a story without the fear of it being slashed and censored. This is our way of saying that the industry is with him,” said Ali.
In the past, Kashyap has faced trouble clearing his films, including 1997’s Black Friday, based on the 1993 Mumbai bomb blasts. But at that time, he was fighting the battle alone.
The controversy took a political twist with state legislature elections due early next year. Opposition Congress and AAP accused leaders of the ruling regional group in Punjab, the Akali Dal, of providing patronage and shelter to the drug mafia in return for money.
India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Hindu nationalist BJP is an ally of the regional group. Modi’s government appointed Nihalani as the censor board chief last year.
Nihalani has maintained that he is under no political pressure.
Kashyap also attempted to bring attention to his film’s censorship predicament by tweeting to Modi.
— With inputs from AP
