Bollywood unites to fight for Udta Punjab, demands Nihalani removal

Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) chief Pahlaj Nihalani became the target of everyone's anger as they demanded his immediate removal.

At CBFC a corrupt system is prevailing, said producer Mukesh Bhatt, urging the government to remove Nihalani as Censor Board chief.

He said it was a vicious move and a vicious system is prevailing in the CBFC. The producers guild does not want him as the CBFC chief."

Addressing the press conference here with the industry bigwigs, Kashyap said:  "It is sad that we have to justify our integrity and honesty and as if we have to prove our credentials at every step. Our fight with censorship is not new, it is going on for long. Some one is trying to run his writ and so many films in past two years are going to the tribunal."

"The way Nihalani is dealing is trying to discourage producers to make this kind of movie. We must have right to subvert to progress. He lied on camera today whole day."

Producers of the Abhishek Choubey directed Udta Punjab film are approaching the Bombay High Court against the Censor Board, the media reported on Wednesday.

The makers were reportedly asked by the revised committee of the Censor Board to remove all references to Punjab as the film deals with the problem of drugs among the youth  that many view as having been inappropriately linked to the state to show it in a bad light.

Filmmaker Zoya Akhtar, who came out in support of the film, said: "It is a fight for all of us and we are living in a denial on what is happening around us- as if there is no marital rape, no drug problem. It is a ridiculous situation and it angers me."

Actor Shahid Kapoor, who is a part of the movie Udta Punjab, said youth of the country have the right to know about the drug menace in this age of  information and technology.

Shahid said: "We live in the age of information and technology. The youth has the right to know that drugs are a menace. There is a need to support the message of the film."

Filmmaker Sudhir Mishra said the Bollywood fraternity is uniting to fight together against the trouble faced by the movie.

Sudhir Mishra said:  "It is going to happen to all of us if we do not unite. It is a good beginning we are all fighting together."

Mahesh Bhatt blasted Nihalani saying he was in fight with him once against censorship but now is trying to stop films.

He said nothing has changed since the time he faced the same problem and warned all against turning India into a Saudi Arabia.

Director of the film Abhishek Chaubey said they have been so much pressurised that at one point he almost agreed to the cuts.

Filmmaker Imtiaz Ali said: "Anything that attacks freedom of thinking is frustrating. Good thing is we are together over here. We will see what happens."

Coming down heavily on the Censor Board diktat, the film's co-producer Anurag Kashyap has been on record as saying that he feels he lives in an oligarchic country like North Korea and that Pahlaj Nihalni is an "egoistic" person.

Kashyap has insisted that the word “Punjab” cannot be separated from his film.

“It is absolutely not possible to cut references to Punjab...“The film is not anti-Akali or anti-BJP, it is anti-drugs. A film about how youth are losing lives," he has said.

Censor Board chief Pahlaj Nihalni has said the film's cuts have nothing to do with the state elections and that co-producer  Anurag Kashyap's charges against him are "baseless."

“Only if one sees the film can one understand why the word Punjab was deleted,” he told NDTV in what came as his first reaction to the mounting criticism, especially from the film fraternity that the changes sought to be forced upon the film were taken at the behest of the ruling dispensation at the Centre.

The matter went to the revised committee after the Censor Board denied the film a certificate over “excessive swearing”.

Shahid Kapoor, Alia Bhatt, Kareena Kapoor Khan and Diljit Dosanjh are the leading actors of the film that delves into how the youth have succumbed to drugs.

It caused chagrin for few political parties, especially Punjab's Shrimoni Akali Dal, which is a partner of the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance as they feel the film will spell a disaster for their electoral fortune when Punjab is only nine months away from the Assembly polls.

While many film personalities have been up in arms against the Censor Board, particularly Nihalni for the act that has created an unprecedented furore, it took a political turn with the opposition Congress and Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) reacting strongly on it.

The censor board chief also earlier reportedly said that the film has been funded by the AAP.

However, the film’s co-producer Anurag Kashyap asked the political parties to stay out of the controversy and said he will “fight his own battle”.