HC slams CBFC over 'Udta Punjab' cuts, final order to be passed on Monday

The Bombay High Court, which is currently supervising the battle between the Central Board of Film Certification and the makers of upcoming film 'Udta Punjab', has asked CBFC the reasons why it sought for the deletion of words like 'Punjab', 'MLA', and 'election' from the movie, along with several other cuts from the movie depicting the drug issue in Punjab.

The court was hearing a petition that filmmaker Anurag Kashyap's Phantom Films filed, challenging the cuts that the censor board had ordered in the film. The division bench of Justice Satyaranjan Dharmadhikari and Justice Shalini Phansalkar Joshi told the CBFC that there is a fine line between creative freedom and the rules.

"How can a signboard mentioning Punjab be against the sovereignty of the country?" judges asked the board, citing the first cut that the board had ordered in the film. "Are you saying this movie only depicts Punjab as drug capital? Has drug menace never been portrayed in films before this?

The judges also went on to question CBFC about its order to delete words like 'MLA', 'election' and 'party' worker from the film title, reminding it of a movie titled Aaj Ka MLA Ram Avatar, which was passed without any objection.

"Nobody will be allowed to abuse the right to creative freedom, but this is not the way to go about it. Delete this, delete that. What sort of lasting impression is being created about India that is being acknowledged globally? One should not attack the aggressive postures of the younger generation. This young generation is mature and its sensibilities may be different," the judges added.

However, the judges said that they would not let anyone glamorize the use of drugs in the name of creative freedom.

The court even added that the movie 'Go Goa Gone,' which showed Goa as a land of drugs, wine and women could release, why was the board hesitating in the use of the word 'Punjab' in 'Udta Punjab'.

The CBFC counsels, in their defence, have told the court that the application was not submitted in the right format, which led to the delay in the objections raised in the film. The film is set to release on 17^th June 2016. They even added that they demanded 89 cuts because there is abusive language throughout the film.

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