Amid a row over Bollywood film "Udta Punjab", Union minister Rajyavardhan Rathore today said filmmakers who are not satisfied with decisions of the censor board have an option of approaching the Appellate Tribunal for relief.
Speaking to reporters here, he said the decisions of the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) are sometimes liked by the movie makers and sometimes not.
"Therefore, as per the process, there is a system of appeal as per which after an examining committee, the filmmaker can approach the revising committee. As per the process, the filmmaker may approach the revising committee a second time as well," the Minister of State for Information & Broadcasting said.
Referring to the Shahid Kapoor starrer "Udta Punjab", he said "the movie being discussed at present has gone to the revising committee."
Rathore said that if somebody is still not satisfied with the decisions of the revising committee, then they may appeal to the Film Certification Appellate Tribunal (FCAT), which is altogether a separate body headed by a retired judge, the minister said.
"If you look at the past 4-5 months, there have been instances where those who were not satisfied with the decisions of the CBFC, were satisfied by the decisions of the FCAT," Rathore said.
His reaction was sought to filmmaker Anurag Kashyap's outburst against censor board chief Pahlaj Nihalani, calling him a "dictator" and that it was like living in North Korea.
The minister responded in lighter vein asking the reporter if he thought he was in North Korea.
"Okay, you don't think so, then its okay. We can have a vote here, it is a democracy," Rathore quipped.
"Udta Punjab", which looks into how the youth in Punjab have succumbed to drugs, has also unleashed political sparring in the state which goes to polls next year.
