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Udta Punjab turns heat on Censor Board chief Pahlaj Nihalani

CBFC chief says AAP paid for film; Bollywood guns for him.

Mumbai/New Delhi: Censor Board chief Pahlaj Nihalani on Wednesday faced heat on multiple fronts in the escalating row over Udta Punjab with demands for his sacking including over his allegation that its maker Anurag Kashyap may have taken money from AAP to make the drug-themed Bollywood film.

As the film fraternity rallied behind Kashyap in the censorship row with superstar Amitabh Bachchan saying creativity should not be killed, the producers moved the Bombay High Court seeking a copy of the order passed by Censor Board’s Review Committee suggesting “13 changes” and removing reference to Punjab in the film.

The producers later said they got a copy of the order. Nihalani said that the producers themselves did not collect the order until Wednesday and instead went to media persons making the matter public.

“We met with the producers on Monday and told them about the cuts. They said, ‘If we get cuts, will you give us the certificate?’ I said, ‘Of course yes’. But they did not turn up to collect the letter. They directly went to media. Today they came to collect the letter.”

Mahesh Bhatt, Mukesh Bhatt and Anurag Kashyap alleged that the Censor Board was intentionally delaying the film’s clearance.

The Shahid Kapoor, Alia Bhatt, Kareena Kapoor Khan and Diljit Dosanjh starrer movie that delves into how the youth in Punjab have succumbed to drugs is slated for release on June 17.

Mukesh Bhatt while targeting Nahalani said a person who is a roadblock and not a facilitator should be removed.

“That is something intolerable, unacceptable to film fraternity and we want him out. His move is malicious and vicious. He lies, delays the process and will bully the person,” Mukesh, president, The Film and Producers Guild of India, told reporters at a joint news conference in Mumbai.

( Source : Deccan Chronicle with agency inputs )
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