Pahlaj Nihalani's tenure as censor board chief has been frought with controversies
Filmmaker Kundan Shah's
P Se PM Tak came and went last Friday after some 40-odd reported audio cuts ordered by the Censor Board, among them references to actor Salman Khan, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Jayalalitha and Sahara chief Subrata Roy. On Twitter, Board member Ashoke Pandit made what could have been a thinly veiled reference to chief Censor Pahlaj Nihalani with who he has frequently tangled publicly. "Feeling sad for one of the masters of Indian Cinema #KundanShah, who's victimised like others by one man's arrogance," Mr Pandit wrote. Mr Nihalani, however, has a different story to tell.
In an interview to
Mumbai Mirror, Pahlaj Nihalani says, "I have yet to see the film. And I'm not going to reveal who saw it and who ordered the cuts. Kundan wanted a U/A certificate and willingly accepted the cuts which were as per the CBFC guidelines. In fact, he even sent me a thank you text which read: "Dear Pehlaj
ji: I want to be on record to convey my heartful thanks to you, your friendly and helpful staff and specially your committee members who came again and again so that we could release the film on time.""
Mr Nihalani also told Mumbai Mirror that there was 'no truth' to reports that members of the Board he heads describe him as 'tyrannical': "People are just gossiping, there is no truth to this allegation. Every individual is entitled to his/her own opinion. They can think what they want about who they want."
He also said that no Board member had complained to him either in person or by correspondence. He responded to the charge that he watches every film himself by saying he had only seen four films since taking over as Censor chief and was not at liberty to reveal who watches which film.
The six months in which Pahlaj Nihalani has presided over the Censor Board have been fraught with rebellion within the ranks and widespread criticism of edits ordered to films like
NH10 and
Badlapur. Public scorn was heaped on a list of Hindi and English cuss words allegedly deemed outlawed for filmmakers.
The simmering tension finally boiled over with Rajyavardhan Rathore, the Minister of State for Information and Broadcasting, flying to Mumbai to meet separately with members of the Censor Board and a delegation from Bollywood that included actors like Aamir Khan and Deepika Padukone, directors and producers.