The war of words between acclaimed film-maker Anurag Kashyap and the Censor Board chief Pahlaj Nihalani over the Udta Punjab row is about to get more intense!
A day ago, Anurag lashed out at Pahlaj and also called him a ‘dictatorial man’. Now, Pahlaj has decided to hit back. Pahlaj compared Anurag Kashyap to a child, who has been denied a toy and said that Anurag is making a hue and cry about the whole issue because he could not have his way. Pahlaj added that the Censor Board decision is totally justified as the film portrays Punjab in a negative light.
The film release might get pushed to July 15 following the controversy.
B-town criticises the Censor Board
Film-makers Kabir Khan, Farhan Akhtar, Gauri Shinde and actress Kalki Koechlin have joined the growing number of Bollywood celebrities, who have slammed the censor board for demanding cuts in “Udta Punjab”.
Citing his own example, Kabir Khan said the censor board had asked him to make alterations in the title of “Bajrangi Bhaijaan” and wanted him to retain either “Bajrangi” or “Bhaijaan”, which he felt was ridiculous. “Now here, they seem to say by changing ‘Udta Punjab’ to ‘Udta Timbuktu’, the film is going to change. I don’t understand the logic behind this kind of decision. How is this depicting any community or state in the negative way.’’
‘’We all know still what extent the drug problem exists in Punjab. We saw people, families who were suffering from it. The film is trying to highlight and focus on it. How is it going to negatively portray people?” he added.
Akhtar wrote, “Power is the most dangerous addiction of all & someone in the CBFC seems to be tripping hard on Lassi in the Sky with Diamonds. #UdtaPunjab.”
“English Vinglish” helmer Shinde said, “When you tear out a man’s tongue, you are not proving him a liar, you’re only telling the world that you fear what he might say. #UdtaPunjab.”
Kalki said, “It’s an ancient system that hasn’t changed for very long time. These days, there is internet, people know everything. But censorship tries to limit people’s point of views and specially in this case, it is limiting a very realistic point of view.’’
Alia Bhatt posted Nobel Peace Prize winner, Pakistan Malala Yousufzai’s quote, which read, “We realise the importance of our voices only when we are silenced.”
Comedian-actor Kapil Sharma, who hails from Punjab, said, “Those who say that there are no drugs or illegal medicines easily available in Punjab, don’t know the real pain of Punjab. Families have lost their youth to easy drugs and lack of rehabs in the state. We can’t shut our eyes to this.”
“After removing Punjab from #UdtaPunjab, Censor Board to remove Daro from #MohenjoDaro in all dry states like Gujarat and Bihar,” film-maker Shirish Kunder tweeted.