Censor Board CEO welcomes HC ruling on ‘Udta Punjab’

Talking to media after the verdict, producer Anurag Kahsyap’s lawyer said its a vindication of democracy.

Earlier on Friday, the court pulled up the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) for insisting on “censoring” films instead of “certifying” them and demanded to know why it was not banning “Udta Punjab” film if it was trying to glorify drugs.

The court’s decision was hailed by India’s film fraternity as a “landmark judgment” that would ensure freedom of expression of modern cinema in India. For every filmmaker who calls a press conference or uses social networking to highlight the CBFC’s harassment, there are countless others who quietly submit to the censor board’s whims. “I am terribly pleased with the verdict and relieved”, he said. “I am happy now that the court has intervened to make way for the release of the film”, popular film director Kamal told reporters here.

Decrying portrayal of Punjabi women in the movie “Udta Punjab”, the Punjab State Commission for Women has approached the Punjab and Haryana high court seeking its impleadment as a party in the ongoing petition against the movie. The revising committee must have thought something about it but court removed the cuts.

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Monday said the Bombay High Court’s ruling in the “Udta Punjab” case was a “tight slap” on the Modi government’s intolerance.

The court suggested that while a scratching scene be deleted fully, the film-makers could display “disclaimers” for the expletives or tone it down though that could not be expected if a rustic character is speaking out his mind. “We do not find the film questions sovereignty or integrity of India by the names of cities, reference to state or by a signpost”. It is entirely on the creative person to choose the setting, pattern, underlying theme and storyline. “Nobody can dictate to him as to how the movie should be made or its content”, the court said. “If a maker chooses this way of depicting the movie and a subject, then it is not for anybody to restrict it. Like the CBFC, even we would be happy if better words were coined and used by the filmmaker”, the judges said.