In the middle of film-maker Anurag Kashyap’s open tiff with the Censor Board over
Udta Punjab, the I&B Ministry is holding a special screening of the movie for Shyam Benegal, the man who’s heading the committee to revamp the film certification process. Karan Bhardwaj has got more details
With film-maker Anurag Kashyap openly taking on the Central Board of Film Certification, better known as the Censor Board, and its chief Pahlaj Nihalani, for recommending as many as 89 cuts and withdrawal of political and regional references in Udta Punjab, the I&B Ministry of the Indian government seems to be taking note of the controversy. Born of Web has learnt that the Ministry is organising an exclusive screening of Udta Punjab for film-maker Shyam Benegal in Mumbai tomorrow (Wednesday). The move is important here as Benegal is heading the committee to reform the Censor Board and is also likely to submit his final report to the government later this month.
“I’m going to watch the film (Udta Punjab). It will be shown to us when I get back to Mumbai tomorrow afternoon. Once I watch it, I will be in a position to give my views to what has happened so far. It is as important for me to know as it is for you. As a citizen of this country and as the chairman of the committee looking into the revival of censorship in India, Udta Punjab is really important to me. It is important for me to know the kind of decision that has been taken in the light of what we are doing,” Benegal told Born of Web.
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In April this year, the Benegal-headed committee had submitted its interim report to rejig the process of the certification of the Indian movies. The veteran film-maker is in Delhi to close the final report. “We had submitted an interim report a couple of months back. We have got two more subjects to discuss. I’m in Delhi to have meeting on both the subjects. We should be able to submit the full and final report by June 20. After that, it’s in the government’s court to take it forward,” he said. On topics being discussed, he said, “I’m not going to reveal more because there’s no point to pick and choose some contents. It should be discussed in entirety once it is fully prepared,” he said.
Though he stated he might not have a direct say in censorship row of Udta Punjab, it is quite evident that the government is looking at an independent opinion. According to recent reports, Kashyap had approached Minister of State for Information & Broadcasting, Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore, to clear the film. However, the minister passed on the complaint to Joint Secretary Murthy, who had pulled up Pahlaj Nihalani, the chairperson of the CFBC. But nothing seemed to have prevented the Censor Board for going hard on the movie.
The Censor Board has been criticised widely for being over enthusiastic in clipping movies. Earlier, they had edited kissing scene from James Bond movie. In wake of massive protest, the government earlier this year had appointed a committee, headed by Shyam Benegal, to restructure rules for film certification.
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“We are looking and analysing what has has happened in the history of Indian cinema and the government’s role in it. Finally, we are going to make suggestions and make a new report which suits contemporary time. To be able to reach a precise view, we have to consider everything that has created controversies or news,” he said. It is not clear if other members of the Benegal-headed committe — Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra, Kamal Haasan, Piyush Pandey and Bhawana Somaaya — are going to attend the screening.
