Bollywood biggies want Censor Board chief sacked

NEW DELHI: Top filmmakers on Monday sought the ouster of censor board chief Pahlaj Nihalani, accusing him of creating a “hostile” environment.
“It is unfortunate but we are unable to work with the present chief. He has created a hostile environment and made it impossible for us,” a source said after eminent film directors, producers and actors met the minister of state for information & broadcasting, Rajyavardhan Rathore, here.
Mukesh Bhatt, president of Film & TV Producers Guild of India, Anurag Kashyap, Ekta Kapoor, Karan Johar, Ritesh Sidhwani, Vidya Balan, Deepika Padukone, Ramesh Sippy, Shabana Azmi, Gulzar, Aamir Khan and Vishal Bharadwaj were among those who met the minister.
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The move comes on the back of a spate of complaints from the film industry against Nihalani, who took charge in January.
Soon after taking over as Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) chairman, Nihalani revived a 2003 order to ban 28 cuss words. The list also included words like ‘Bombay’.
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Despite strident opposition to the cuss list by the ministry and censor board members, movies have been asked to cut out “obscenities”. Recent films like “Dum Laga ke Haisha” and “NH10” have suffered a series of cuts because of this unofficial order leading to unrest among filmmakers who feel that this could seriously impinge on the creative process. There are also reports that Nihalani has taken to clearing films himself in violation of the Cinematograph Act.
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After talks with Rathore, Bhatt said, “We had a fruitful meeting with the minister. We put our point across that as an industry we have started to feel insecure and vulnerable because of the recent decisions of the CBFC. We also stressed that as a soft power which needs to evolve internationally, we need independence and creative space."
CBFC members have also been vocal in their complaint against Nihalani, with one even describing him as a “tyrant” who was treating the board as his “fiefdom”. The uproar came after the list of cuss words was put “on hold” by CBFC members, insisting that decisions like these cannot be taken unilaterally and must be discussed with the board. The minister will meet censor board members in Mumbai on Tuesday.
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