Udta Punjab or Pahlaj?
Bravo Pahlaj, Bravo!
You have once again shown the world what it like is to not know something and still be on top of it. This is the second time in 6 months that you have fiddled with “censorship”. Last time it was when you decided and trimmed kissing scenes from Spectre last November – and ritually so!
This time, it was with Udta Punjab.
I would start by first congratulating you on creating an unbelievable spectacle in “Mera Desh Hai Mahaan” where you dedicate some 400 seconds of our lives to Mr. Modi. I would recommend readers to give it a miss; else they will start to agree with your decision to cut everything that he finds against his values.
Anyhow, you have more gems credited to your kitty than you deserve. Be it the overly detailed, Khada hai, khada hai, khada hai or Le lo, le lo mera from Andaz, you never failed to amuse us and have reached an epitome of self-mockery. Your reason to sanitize the Indian Film Industry starts to suddenly make more sense too!
What’s further interesting is the fact that you, the CBFC Chief, always admit that you never watch films before “Censoring” them. Appraisable, isn’t it? There might be a political angle to all this and more, but what I don’t understand is that from the overly competent Gajendra Chauhan who leads FTII to Pahlaj Nihalani with Sanskar so tight even Alok Nath bows down in shame; what is it that the Government intends to do?
Viewership is something that cannot be controlled. We still believe there would be much less a chaos, had Udta Punjab was not stirred and a robust controversy wasn’t created! But now that the protest is on the street, it is all but obvious for a common cinephile to make a note of the film’s release date and watch it ASAP!
Wrong or right, Nihalani, if you think you can suppress and decide the content a film lover like me should or should not watch, you are sure to have more troubles to cater to in future – now that the verdict is out and favors Udta Punjab every which way! And there is no better way to conclude this mess than to post Anurag Kashyap’s Tweet on the verdict:
