Pahlaj Nihlani Sends A  Legal Notice to IIFA For Defamation

Producer and  chairperson of the Censor Board Pahlaj Nihlani has sent a 5-page legal notice to the IIFA(International Indian Film Academy) and its organizers Wizcraft International.

The  legal notice(a copy of which is in this writer’s possession) sent on behalf of Mr Nihlani by his lawyer SurenUppal states that at the IIFA awards held on July 15 in New York Nihlani’s  picture was used in an inappropriate manner during a skit performed by  Ritesh Deshmukh and Manish Paul where the CBFC chairperson was referred to as a ‘watchman’

The  5-page notice goes on to state that the same kind of  “grossly defamatory expressions” were undertaken at the IFFA  in 2016 in a skit by Farhan Akhtar and Shahid Kapoor.

The notice demands an unconditional apology  in several newspapers and channels and a pledge to not defame Nihlani with similar acts in the future.

Says Mr Nihlani, “The matter is gone legal now.So  I’ll say only one thing. I know when to laugh and when to make others cry.”

The CBFC chairperson plans legal action against all those who have been repeatedly ridiculing him .We hear Suhel Seth  is  next in the line of fire.

Nihlani states, “These people forget they insult not me but the position held by me as the chairperson  of the CBFC. It’s time to let them know the joke is not on me.”