Punjab Congress chief Amarinder Singh today slammed the Censor Board after the makers of the film 'Udta Punjab' are said to have been asked by the Revising Committee of the Board to remove all references to the state in the movie and make 89 cuts.
"It is like taking the soul out of the film's body," he said while pointing out that the whole theme of the movie revolved around Punjab and the "devastating" drug problem it faced.
Amarinder said that instead of trying to "suppress the harsh reality of drug scourge in Punjab", the state's SAD-BJP government should better spend its energies in solving the problem.
"Running away and shutting your eyes and ears and trying to gag those trying to present and portray the truth is certainly not going to help Punjab nor will it help you in anyway," he said.
Amarinder claimed that the whole world already knew the truth about drugs in Punjab as also those responsible for it.
The MP from Amritsar hoped that better sense prevails over the Censor Board and it acts in an impartial manner and allow the movie to be released "unscissored".
The row over drug-themed Bollywood film 'Udta Punjab', slated for release on June 17, escalated today with co-producer Anurag Kashyap hitting out at Censor Board chief Pahlaj Nihalani, calling him "oligarch" and "dictator" and that it was like living in North Korea.
The Shahid Kapoor, Alia Bhatt, Kareena Kapoor Khan and Diljit Dosanjh starrer movie that delves into how the youth in Punjab have succumbed to drugs, also unleashed political sparring, prompting Kashyap to ask parties to stay away from the censorship row.
