Pahlaj Nihalani, Ex Indian Censor board chairperson, was sacked just months before his tenure was due to the end. And, now it seems that he isn’t much happy about terminating his position before the end of this period. This is why, he has spilled a lot of beans.
While giving an interview to the YouTube channel Lehren TV, Nihalani revealed how films like Udta Punjab and Lipstick Under My Burkha received publicity and a good opening throughout the country due to their tiff with censor board.
Lipstick Under My Burkha wasn’t in the good books of CBFC and took months to proceed with the release, as the censor board is of the view that “the story is lady-oriented”. The tribunal, which viewed the film for the final pass, nodded it to be screened on cinemas.
“If Lipstick hadn’t received so much publicity [due to the CBFC refusal], then it would have been a no-show,” said the ex-chairman.
On the other hand, talking about Udta Punjab, which was another controversy to the long list of India’s films, he said:
“[The] Ministry told me not to pass Udta Punjab because it was very controversial. There was a lot of pressure from many sides to not pass the picture, from Punjab from everywhere.”
However, when the revising committee gave a date for the film to be passed, Nihalani propose cuts of the obscene words as per the CBFC guidelines.
“The cuss words have been on the list since 2003, I didn’t make it up, I was just abiding by it.
“Anurag Kashyap wanted to promote his film through this, so they highlighted the problem (CBFC’s refusal).”
To the utter shock of many, he has also stated that Home Ministry did not even want to release Salman Khan’s Bajrangi Bhaijaan on Eid. He was already sent a letter in advance, asking not to proceed with the release of film.
“For Bajrangi Bhaijaan, the Home Minister had told me not to release the film during Eid – because of the title and it was Eid and because of the law and order situation.
“I have gone out of my way, I was aware of the misunderstanding between the government and the media industry, so I supported it [Bajrangi Bhaijaan] – Salman Khan was after me.”
Nihalani also took a serious jab at Tubelight producer Kabir Khan and went on to say:
“He is a useless fellow, he’s completely unprofessional. Even after releasing all his films without any cuts, he has always spoken against me – without any reason, without [having faced] any problems.
“If you cannot give a good film with Salman Khan – today he is a superstar – then where do you stand?”
Seems that a lot of more statements are in pipeline, after ex-Indian CBFC has revealed how the inside of Indian Censor board functions.