Udta Punjab: Kejriwal blames BJP for ‘cuts’, Kashyap drags Censor Board to court

The Congress and Aam Aadmi Party, which fancies its chances in the northern state, criticised the board. The two parties also accused Punjab’s ruling SAD-BJP alliance of exercising influence to “censor” the movie.

The Shiromani Akali Dal, an NDA partner in power in Punjab for nine years, says the film tarnishes the image of the state and its people.

 The  censor board chief on Wednesday suggested that Anurag Kashyap may have made the movie after taking money from the AAP, sparking a stinging reaction from Bollywood and AAP leader Arvind Kejriwal.

Leading Bollywood filmmakers along with the “Udta Punjab” team -- co-producers Kashyap and Ekta Kapoor, actors Shahid Kapoor and Alia Bhatt and director Abhishek Chaubey -- addressed the media where the Indian Film and Television Directors Association (IFTDA) sought an apology from Nihalani. 

Filmmaker Mukesh Bhatt, who is also the President of the Film and Television Producers Guild of India, urged the government to sack Nihalani as the head of the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC).

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Wednesday accused censor board chief Pahlaj Nihalani of censoring Bollywood film “Udta Punjab” on the BJP’s direction.“Pahlaj Nihalani’s statement (linking co-producer Anurag Kashyap with the AAP) makes it amply clear he has stopped the film on BJP’s instructions,” the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader tweeted.

Rejecting Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal’s charge that the Censor Board has stopped the release of film ‘Udta Punjab’ at its behest, BJP  said AAP survives by creating such controversies and claimed that Punjab has no drug problem, an issue the movie deals with. “I completely reject it (charge) that the government has any role or intervened to stop its release. AAP survives on controversies. It creates controversies for political purpose,” Union Minister Rajiv Pratap Rudy said at a party briefing.

The censor board has sought 89 cuts in “Udta Punjab” -- deletions which the producers say will virtually kill the movie.

 Earlier on Wednesday, Filmmaker Kashyap dragged the censor board to the Bombay high court over the proposed cuts in Udta Punjab. The censor board has sought 89 cuts in “Udta Punjab” – deletions which the producers say will virtually kill the movie.

The producers have asked for a copy of the order passed by the censor board’s review committee on May 3, purportedly suggesting cuts in the Shahid Kapoor-starrer and removal of all references to Punjab.

The petition, which will be taken up on Thursday, said the government and the censor board should share the committee’s decision on the “objectionable” scenes and dialogues in the film that is slated for release on June 17.