Fight till the end: Shekhar Kapur to Udta Punjab makers

To this, the court pointed out that films do not run on such content and there must be a storyline and the modern audiences were mature enough.

The director, 81, said much of the debate over the movie was sparked because people think the film is against the state of Punjab.

Sethna further argued that the word “kanjar” showed the state in a poor light as Punjab was a highly productive state.

On June 8 morning, Phantom Films moved the high court, seeking a copy of the CBFC order suggesting changes to the film. It is based on the menace of drugs in Punjab.

Co-producer Anurag Kashyap yesterday approached the Court claiming that his film had not received any certification from CBFC, despite the officials having watched the movie on June 3.

In his first film Paanch, the board had objected to violence, bad language and showing of drug abuse, but it was cleared by revising committee after a few cuts and two disclaimers.

Mumbai: A day after Shyam Benegal gave a thumbs up to Abhishek Chaubey’s Udta Punjab, the makers of the film have another reason to rejoice as Bombay High Court has stood by creativity and asked CBFC to give reasons for suggesting 89 cuts. It also included removal of the word “Punjab” word from the movie as well its title. The cuts included references to Punjab, expletives and drug scenes among other scenes.

Coming down heavily on the CBFC, the court asked it not to be overly critical.

On Monday, the court will pronounce its verdict on a plea filed by the film’s producer challenging the cuts ordered by the Board.

“War films have been made in our country”.

The court also said removing words such as election, MLA and MP did not make sense.

Apart from the censor board controversy, “Udta Punjab” has been in the news for its interesting star cast of Shahid Kapoor, Kareena Kapoor Khan, Alia Bhatt and Diljit Dosanjh.

Drawing comparison between Udta Punjab with the film Go Goa Gone, Justice Dharmadhikari said that in the latter film, Goa had been shown as a place where people go to party and also take banned drugs.