Udta Punjab gets wings

​Mumbai: The Bombay High Court on Monday cleared the decks for the release of movie 'Udta Punjab', whose makers were locked in a dispute with the Central Board of Film Certification, after ordering deleting a urination scene and displaying a revised disclaimer.

The court also came down heavily on the CBFC and asked it not to act like a "grandmother", and change with times. A division bench of Justices S C Dharmadhikari and Shalini Phansalkar-Joshi directed the CBFC to certify the drug-themed film within 48 hours to enable the makers to release it on its scheduled date of June 17.

"Barring the deletion of the urination scene as directed by the board and modification of the disclaimer, the June 6 order passed by the CBFC's revising committee directing for a total of 13 changes in the movie is quashed and set aside," the court said.

The bench, however, refused to stay its order on a plea made by CBFC counsel Advait Sethna to enable the board to appeal against it in the Supreme Court, saying the filmmakers have already spent a lot on the movie and its promotion and distribution.

The court, which was hearing a petition filed by Anurag Kashyap's Phantom Films challenging the CBFC order, came down heavily on the board for curbing a creative person's work.

"Do not act like a grandmother. Change as per the times now. The CBFC need not be over-sensitive in the matter of art. The CBFC cannot stop creative people abruptly as it may discourage them. This will kill creativity. These days filmmakers are brutal, direct and straightforward. One need not treat them harshly just because of this," the HC said.

The court further noted that the CBFC is not empowered by law to censor films, as the word censor is not included in the Cinematograph Act. "Censor in common parlance means to certify a movie.

Therefore, if by law the board is empowered to make changes, cuts, or deletions, this power of the CBFC must be consistently in consonance with the provisions of the Constitution and the Supreme Court directions," Justice Dharmadhikari said.

As per the revised disclaimer, the 'Udta Punjab' makers will have to delete reference to Pakistan. They will also have to make additions to the disclaimer to the effect that the movie, its characters and the filmmakers do not promote the use of drugs and abusive language, and that the film is only attempting to depict the reality of drug abuse.

On cutting out the urination scene, Justice Dharmadhikari said, "The CBFC is justified in directing deletion of the scene as the shot was unnecessary given the backdrop and the theme of the movie. Instead of this particular scene, the filmmaker could have taken recourse to other methods to depict the same."

Source: Agencies