India's film certification body, the Central Board of Film Certification, which is chaired by Pahlaj Nihalani, has been receiving a lot of flak of late. CBFC recently demanded that 48 cuts be made in Nawazuddin Siddiqui's upcoming film, 'Babumoshai Bandookbaaz' and awarded the film an 'A' certificate.
Not only did the board demand 48 cuts but they also insulted the producer, Kiran Shroff and asked her how a woman could make such a film. Kiran said, "They had an internal discussion for an hour after the screening. First, they told us that they were giving us an A certificate. Then they told us that there are 48 cuts. We argued that if the film is for adults, then why have so many cuts. They didn’t bother much and continued to explain each cut and their logic behind it. In the middle of that, a lady officer turned to me and said, ‘Aap aurat hokar aisi filmein kaise bana sakti hain’. And before I could speak up, a man in the committee said, ‘But she is not a woman. Look at what she is wearing'."
Talking about CBFC"s decision, director Kushan Nandy said, "First and foremost, we don’t have humping scenes. They are love-making scenes. I am shocked and appalled at what has happened. If you notice the cuts, there’s a sentence, ‘Yeh kaahe ka c******a hai.’ We use such sentences in our everyday life. The excuse given to us is that children also sneak into cinema halls to watch adult films. How is that my problem? Penalise the cinema halls for this, not the producers. The way they have dealt with our film is insulting. They humiliated Kiran (the producer) which is unpardonable."
However, when Kushan met Pahlaj in private, the CBFC chairman said that he might ban their film. He said, "'You are lucky I’m not banning your film'. When I argued that there are no grounds to do that, he retorted, 'What are these abuses? Do you plan to make a dictionary of bad words?' He even asked me to change lines like 'Maa ka lehenga' to 'Maa ka anchal'. In short, the essence of what is being said is lost. He is basically trying to teach us to make a film. And finally , he told me to remove the line that has 'Khada' in it. He said, 'I will never let it pass because I am abused for my song Khada Hai Khada Hai to this day'."
Signing off, Kushan added, "I’ll fight this till the end."
