Pahlaj Scissorhands

Nihalani's snip-friendly attitude is nothing new, says Urvi Malvania.

Pahlaj Nihalani is once again in the news. The latest film to have caught his attention is Abhishek Chaubey's Udta Punjab. The movie is about drug abuse in Punjab, but Nihalani has ordered its makers to remove all references to the state, politics, politicians and make over 80 other cuts before it can be screened.

Nihalani's snip-friendly attitude is nothing new, but his treatment of Udta Punjab has Bollywood in uproar with accusations of political interference flying thick and fast against the censor board chief.

After taking over as chief of the Central Board for Film Certification's in January last year, Nihalani got down to work immediately. He came out with fresh guidelines for certification. He prepared a long list of English and Hindi cuss words to be banned from films and barred screening of 'A' certified films on television even if they had been re-cut or re-censored to be eligible for screening on TV. However, he later recanted this guideline after severe backlash from the industry.

From the start, Nihalani's term has been controversial. Barely three months into his appointment, censor board members Ashoke Pandit and Chadraprakash Dwivedi accused Nihalani of being a 'tyrant' and creating an 'anarchic environment' when it came to film censorship.

Several films have struggled to clear the censor board over the past year. Anushka Sharma's debut film as a producer, NH10, was deemed unfit for release in its original form and was cleared only after several cuts. As a result, the film's release was delayed by a week.

The censor board chief also raised objections on the James Bond movie Spectre. The movie was released in India only after 50 per cent of the kissing scenes were removed from the plot.

This prudish sentiment of the board was widely criticised with film-goers taking to the social media to point out the incredulity of the move, given that James Bond movies are known for their guns, gadgets and women.

Pandit voiced his criticism on Twitter, saying, 'Spectre is an internationally applauded film, but again Pahlaj Nihalani messes it up by shading it with his own thought process. Nihalani's action should not be a reflection of my choices. I feel it's a mockery of the freedom of a filmmaker,' he added.

Nihalani, however, has refused to budge from his stand. According to him, the cuts were necessary as they glorified nudity and were not 'good for society.'

Surprisingly, Nihalani's own work as a film producer can be called raunchy at best. He has produced close to 16 films and many of them are what Bollywood calls 'B- grade' films, with titles like Paap Ki Duniya, First Love Letter and Ek Aur Faulad. Nihalani is known to be an admirer of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. He has also directed two videos that glorify the prime minister.