“There is no political pressure whatsoever on the censor board regarding Udta Punjab.”

Censor chief Pahlaj Nihalani, once again under attack for the severe censoring of Udta Punjabi finally speaks up on the issue in an interview.

You are once again being condemned , this time for ordering 89 cuts in Udta Punjab…or is ot 90?

Who has counted these cuts? The producers of Udta Punjab have not even implemented any cuts in the film as yet. So how does the media know about the number of cuts in the film? It’s like doing a sex-determination test for an unborn baby.It’s unethical and illegal.And just who are these people screaming against the CBFC(Censor Board Of Film Certification)?

Anurag Kashyap for one?

I haven’t met him  even once about Udta Punjab .We’ve never spoken on this matter. In the past when a film produced by him NH 10 was in censor trouble I did my best to help him follow the censor guidelines.  When there was objection to his title Bombay Velvet we at the CBFC passed the title to ensure Mr Kashyap’s creative urges do not get suppressed. Now when  he is not getting  his way with the CBFC I am the biggest villain  in the creative world.So be it. Mr Kashyap  is like  a child being denied a toy.He loves to make a noise every a film  directed or produced by him is released.And since he makes a LOT of movies he also makes a LOT of noise. I believe he has called me an extremely egotistical man. A lot of people feel the same about him.

Kashyap feels you run the CBFC like your personal fiefdom?

Says who? Ashoke Pandit? The man whom Kashyap hails as a sensible voice in the CBFC just because Panditis opposing the CBFC’s decision to not allow Punjab to be vilified in Udta Punjab. It’s like that filmmaker who thinks the only critic who understands his film is the one who praises his film.

Could you tell us what exactly are the cuts that the CBFC wants?

Tell me something. Do all those tv anchors and their panelists who are shouting down the CBFC and calling me  all sorts of names,understand what they are talking about? Do they know the issues involved? Learned panelists on tv discussions where everyone screams everyone else down, says if today Mother India or Dilli Ka Thug was to be made we’d object to ‘India’ and ‘Dilli’. Sounds very clever. But these were stories of one individual. UdtaPunjab claims to mirror the truth about the whole of Punjab. According to the film 70 percent of the youngsters are drug addicts. Where did they get this figure from? The film’s dialogue explicity states Punjab isbanjar(barren) land and the people there are kanjar(wayward, promiscuous). Tell me , is this not vilifying the whole of Punjab?

But the makers of Udta Punjab have put a disclaimer at the beginning saying it’s all a work of fiction?

What is the disclaimer worth when after claiming to be a work of fiction the film proceeds to name every major town in Punjab from Amritsar to Taran Taran as a drug den? How is it a work of fiction when you are naming real towns from Punjab? When Kashyap and his gang of Wasseypur calls me egotistical and someone calledSuhel Seth feels I have “feeble intellect” I’d like them to use their highly developed intelligence to understand that the CBFC is not controlled by me. There ‘s a  committee which I head . Yes, I’ve the final authority to ask for changes before certification.It’s an authority given to me by the government. I repeat for the umpteenth time, I am only following the guidelines. And I’ll continue to do so even if intellectuals like Kashyap and Seth  abuse me for doing my job.

So what happens to Udta Punjab? Does it release on time on June 17?

The CBFC has never stopped  any film from being released on time. When Udta Punjab came to us for certification we found the film carpeted with the filthiest abuses. Almost every line that Shahid Kapoor speaks is filled with the most explicit abuses and gaalis that even I had never heard. We said, ok, let him abuse when his character is under the influence of drugs. But why should he  talk like that when normal? Who speaks like that  in everyday conversations? We’ve even allowed Alia Bhatt to abuse. But we couldn’t allow Punjab to be damned and labeled a drug haven.

Kashyap says he won’t take  a single cut?

Let him fight it out. Then don’t blame us for the delay in release. It wasn’t Kashyap who came to us for censoring. Jeetendraji on behalf of Balaji Telefilms and the film’s director Abhishek Choubey came for the censoring.We suggested the cuts which they agreed to take and promised to return after making the cuts. But instead Anurag Kashyap decided to go to the media. He wants to now why we haven’t given him a formal letter about the cuts. It’s because the film is with the Revising Committee. Until they come to a decision we cannot issue a formal letter.

Will the film be allowed to be called Udta Punjab?

All those who are talking about creative freedom should first see the film. How are they discussing Udta Punjabwithout seeing the context in which we have suggested the cuts?

Are you under pressure from the government to stop Udta Punjab?

Let me make this very clear. There is no political pressure whatsoever on the censor board regarding UdtaPunjab. The CBFC is being allowed to do its job. Anurag Kashyap approached Mr Arun Jaitley . But it was made very clear that the government does not interfere in censorship. If Kashyap and his colleagues have their creative freedom the CBFC too has its freedom to do its job.You do your job. Let us do our job.