I had seen the powerful trailer of Udta Punjab. I was eagerly waiting for release on June 17. Udta Punjab ( can’t even shorten to UP as someone else may take offence) is, as the nation knows by now, a Drug Crime thriller exposing drug problem and is currently locked in a battle with the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC). Now it may get delayed. Guess what we will finally see will not be Udta Punjab given the desired 89 cuts in a 123-minute movie. Watching it will be like watching a body without soul. The fabric will be in broken.
What are these cuts? IndiaTimes reports that ‘The committee demanded the filmmakers chop off all the references to politics and elections and all references of expletives and visual substance abuse to be dropped from the film’.
It is said that the producers are planning to move the Bombay High Court against the panel’s verdict. For whatever it is worth, I’m with the producers. They must take the battle forward to its logical end. If this truancy is allowed to continue, then viewers will never be able to experience the film the way the director conceived and wanted us to see. It will be a shame.
People in the know call it the most honest movie. If what I know, read or have been told, in fact, Udta Punjab is a movie with a relevant message for the young audience. An ideal candidate for tax-free label, the movie is fighting for release.
Is CBFC even bothered about such small matters? NO. The chairman is known for political unilateral decisions and don quixotic behaviour. The CBFC board members and the review committee members have publicly questioned the wisdom of chairman. The government has no inclination of the angst being created. Co-producer Anurag Kashyap has compared it to living in North Korea, and he may not be far from truth. However, he must watch, there is something called ‘insulting a foreign dignitary’ under which he may be hassled.
This takes us back to the good old Doordarshan (DD) days, where the agencies submitted the TVC script for DD approval before they went for the shoot. India is a democratic country which proudly sees itself as the protector of independent views and freedom of expression. However, now it appears, the producers will be better advised to send a fully bound script to censor board for approval before starting shooting.
CBFC was constituted for CERTIFYING the film for viewing by a certain set of audience. It was never meant to ask for changes and cuts. However, it did. No one objected, and it became the tradition. And this role of cuts and changes is anyway and undesirable irritant in the information parity world. The time is right where the industry must stand together.
The objection is as stupid as the reason. Remove Punjab from Udta Punjab. Remove all references to Punjab cities, places, people from the movie. Or it may tarnish the image of Punjab. Oh, by the way, elections are some nine months away, so, this silly movie gives some prominent parties sleepless nights by bringing up a valid issue and throwing all the punches.
I am certain this CBFC would have not allowed Salaam Bombay (Prostitution), Bombay (Riots) etc. And the esteemed Board believe that by removing Punjab from the title and its audio references from the movie, the illiterate, information-starved, simple citizen will never be able to guess which state it was talking about.
What is show in the film is a grim reality. The problem exists. You release, or you do not release the movie. Keeping Punjab in or out of it is not going to change it. Even an Ostrich will be ashamed of such thinking.
Drugs are a national malaise. Punjab is taken as an example to demonstrate the extent and its hugeness. And there is no reason for anyone to feel prosecuted. This way never ever will Indian film producers be able to explore realism in cinema.
Social media had its own show on the side. Thank god a bit of freedom still exists. Though there are rules to operate within. I hope I am not crossing any.
Some statement and references have been taken from the Internet and social media humorally being shared by netizens around the world. I do not endorse or condone their view point, what I believe that CBFC should only certify film and not demand cuts.
Udta Punjab is written and directed by Abhishek Chaubey, produced by Shobha kapoor and Ekta Kapoor underr Balaji Motion Pictures. It stars Shahid Kapoor, Kareena Kapoor and Alia Bhat. It is said the stars took 50% cut in their fee impressed with the script and the message.
