dailyO
Politics

Will censor board chief Pahlaj Nihalani never learn?

Advertisement
Arindam De
Arindam DeAug 23, 2016 | 15:39

Will censor board chief Pahlaj Nihalani never learn?

Kanti Shah seems to have taken on Pahlaj Nihalani at his own game. Reports suggest that he had released a horror-sleaze fest entitled Ghost House and that film was duly certified by the CBFC.

To their horror Nihalani and his team realised that huge amount of footage in the actual film was never shown to the CBFC. The board has now filed an FIR against the producer for illegal interpolation of content catering to baser instincts.

Advertisement

Shah was served a notice to explain the shocking developments, but he was not keen to play ball and said he was busy, which ultimately led the Nihalani-led CBFC to go for the FIR. This is not an apology for Shah by any stretch of imagination, the quality of his body of work is beyond exploitative. But this is not dissimilar to the game Nihalani has been playing for the duration of his soon-to-end stay.

A certification authority is not and should not be allowed to act as a moral guardian. Just imagine how different the walls of Khajuraho, or the Puri temple for that matter, would have appeared had Nihalani had a say.

Thankfully, the Indian culture predates him and shall outlive him and his Edward Scissorhands moments will be nothing more than a blip on the huge canvas of continuity, maybe a few moments of comic relief in the serious business of safeguarding culture, nothing more.

nihalani-embed_082116075616.jpg
Thankfully, the Indian culture predates him and shall outlive Pahlaj Nihalani.  

Interestingly, a cursory glance at the body of work of Nihalani would indicate a Dada Kondke-esque strain more than a Dadasaheb Phalke-esque role he hallucinates about. The year 1994 saw the release of Nihalani's Andaz.

Advertisement

Not a single song could have seen the light of day 30 years on. In the pre-super glue days, Archana Puran Singh and Sunny Deol's kissing lent a different connotation to the lip lock. Oh this was in Aag ka Gola (1990). Then again, there is Dil Tera Diwana (1996) starring Twinkle Khanna and Saif Ali Khan and produced by... who else?

The then censor board proposed six visual cuts - mostly for a song that included "vulgar" movements. Nihalani cried foul, slammed the board for its biased attitude as it has passed "rapid pelvic gyrations" from a competitor's film. Regarding another cut he rightly remarked, "Are they living in the 18th century?" Were they? Is he? He is facing similar criticisms.

The winter session of Parliament will discuss the Cinematograph Act of 1952. It was amended in 1959 to grant censorship powers to the CBFC, powers that Nihalani have misused of late. By misuing the powers bestowed on him he has managed to put a question mark on the very fabric of our nation - tolerance that permeates every fibre of our existence.

Advertisement

A quality that is often hotly debated but never goes unacknowledged. Court rulings against the CBFC has become more of a norm. As decisions go against the board, Nihalani has not shown the slightest inclination to change.

After Anurag Kashyap's Udta Punjab came Abhishek Jawkar's Missing On A Weekend. Protagonists are reportedly shown doing drugs in a Goa beach. The result? The CBFC suggested FIFTY cuts - oestensibly to ensure that Goa's tourism does not gets affected.

Jawakar contested and the film was granted release with just seven cuts. He appealed again, and the decision was that there would be no cuts at all, and only one word muted and the film will hit the theatres on August 26.

But the way the board stuck to at least one cut made it look silly and desperate, as if clinging on to its power for the sake of it, smug in its belief that what it does is the right thing and it actually matters. In November, if the new Cinematograph Act is enacted, the categories for certification will also be expanded. U or "universal" will remain, with UA (universal/adult) being split into UA12+ and UA15+, and A (adult) being given a subcategory of AC, or "adult with caution.

The CBFC will have a separate monitoring committee and revising committee. They will be independent of each other and every film will have to take separate clearances from each committees.

There will be a new set of guidelines for the CBFC to follow. Hopefully, it will include guidelines to check piracy too. After certified copies for the CBFC of Udta Punjab, Great Grand Masti and Kabali were leaked online the role of the CBFC came under the scanner. So much so that Dishoom became the first film to be submitted to the censor board in the encrypted format.

Last updated: August 23, 2016 | 15:39
IN THIS STORY
Please log in
I agree with DailyO's privacy policy