Udta Punjab to Hit Screen With 13 Cuts and an A Certificate, Bombay High Court to Order on Cuts Today

Mumbai: The Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) chairman Pahlaj Nihalani said on Sunday that the Bombay High Court is likely to pass its decision over the release of the controversial film Udta Punjab row on Monday. Reports are that the censor board had made 13 cuts and awarded the movie with an ‘A’ certificate. Udta Punjab is likely to hit the silver screen on June 17; directed by Abhishek Chaubey, the film is based on the drug-problems of Punjab.

Nihalani said that he along with nine other members from the censor board watched the film and had ‘unanimously cleared’ it with 13 cuts. “We have today cleared Udta Punjab under A (restricted for adult audience) category after 13 cuts,” Nihalani said in an event at Bhopal.

Sources said that on Friday Phantom Films had agreed with the censor board that went on deleting a scene where the lead character of the film will be seen urinating in front of the crowd. Following the suggested cuts by the CBFC, the division bench of Justice SC Dharmadhikari and Justice Shalini Phansalkar-Joshi said that they will pass an order on Monday; the order will be based upon the remaining cuts suggested by the CBFC.

The CBFC-Udta Punjab row is in the eye of controversy among politicians and film personalities since last month when the film was out for its promotions across the nation. CBFC claimed that the movie have obscene remarks and scenes in it and had shown Punjab in a bad light. However, the board had no complaints against the trailer of the movie which had similar content.

Following the continued controversy the Bombay High Court on Friday suggested the CBFC to certify films and not to censor them frequently. During the hearing on Friday, the HC said: “The CBFC should change its approach with changing times and let people decide what is good and what is bad. The term ‘censor board’ was coined by the media and it was pleased to note the CBFC does not mention and treat itself as a censor board, but instead considers itself the board of film certification.”