HC asks Censor Board not to be overly critical, 'Udta Punjab'

The producers of "Udta Punjab" today agreed to delete a scene in which the protagonist is shown urinating before a crowd after Bombay High Court sought its removal even as it told the Censor Board not to be overly critical for the survival of creative people in film industry.
The High Court while agreeing with the suggestion of the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) for chopping this scene in the drug-themed film, at the same time, disapproved of it asking for deletion of references to "Punjab".
It also asked the producers to tone down expletives and vulgar scenes as these alone cannot make a film work.

A division bench of Justices S C Dharmadhikari and Shalini Phansalkar-Joshi said it will pass orders in the case on June 13 after it concluded hearing arguments on the petition filed by Phantom Films, producer of "Udta Punjab", against an order of the revising committee of the CBFC that suggested 13 changes in the film.
The court made the remarks even as Censor board chief Pahlaj Nihalani, who is at the centre of the row over the film, said the cuts suggested were as per the guidelines and not influenced by him.
Downplaying his role in the controversy, Nihalani said he never imposes his views on the movies that come for certification.

CBFC counsel Advait Sethna, while justifying the decision of the board's revising committee asking the makers to cut and delete certain scenes of the movie, remove all expletives and cuss words, reference to the state Punjab and the protagonist urinating and scratching his crotch scene, argued that such scenes are vulgar and extremely deplorable.

While suggesting that the scene where a character is shown scratching body part can be deleted, the court said "disclaimers" could be displayed for the cuss words used.
"The scene where a character is shown scratching a body part in a graphic manner can be deleted entirely. This need not be shown in any form. Similarly, for all the cuss words used, a disclaimer can be displayed. Is it really necessary for a creative person to rely on expletives. You have to tone it down a bit," Justice Dharmadhikari said.

The petitioner's counsel Ravi Kadam said they were willing to delete that particular scene from the movie.
The court was critical of the CBFC's direction to the makers to delete any reference made to Punjab in the film, saying "the crux of the film will be lost" and added that people should be given the choice to view what they want.
In stinging observations against the Board, the court noted, "If the movie (Udta Punjab) is glorifying use of drugs then ban the entire movie."
"The censor board need not be so critical also as we want creative people to survive and grow in the film industry," the court observed while referring to certain scenes in the film for which the board has suggested changes.

"You (CBFC) have to give people the choice to view what they want. In the house, a person uses the remote to switch on or off the television. Similarly let the public decide whether they want to see the movie or not. Use of expletives will not take the movie anywhere. Today's generation is not going to be impressed with all this. The content needs to be strong," the court said.