"Kutte kaminey main tera khoon pee jaoonga..." This line, synonymous with Hindi cinema, is no longer acceptable to the Central Board of Film Certification. Kutta, along with saali, haraami, bastard and bitch, has been banished by the Board.

The CBFC has come up with a list of words in English and Hindi, which are deemed "offensive/objectionable". Regional Officers have been directed to delete them from Hindi and regional films, irrespective of the certification. Also, words like maarna, lena, bajana, if related to sex, will be scissored out, along with the word Bombay. There will also be no glorification of bloodshed, violence against women and double meaning dialogue.

This new commandment, dispatched to all producers' associations and censor notice boards, has sent shockwaves through the industry. Director Navdeep Singh who was willing to take an 'A' rating for his upcoming film, NH10, which showcases a woman's gory revenge, was unavailable for a comment. He was reportedly brainstorming with the makers to find a way out because going by the trailer, the film is peppered with expletives and violence against women.

It was "no comments" from Balaji's CCO, Tanveer Bookwala, too on how this diktat would affect their under-production sex comedy Kya Kool Hain Hum 3 and the soon-to-roll erotic thriller XXX. But Madhur Bhandarkar admitted that if the guidelines are implemented, his Calendar Girls will have to mind their language and he'll have to edit out the F and B words. "My 2011 film, Dil Toh Bachcha Hai Ji, was given an 'A' certificate because of the use of the word virginity. That restricted it's reach and cut into the revenue," recalls Madhur, adding that the rule will make characters boringly one-dimensional and stories devoid of drama. "Language is one way of showing the contrast between a bad and a good guy and his transformation if it happens. It's also a reflection of our society."

Mahesh Bhatt rues that we are living in oppressive times and members of the film fraternity, who once fought this battle along with them, have now become the thought police. "The CBFC is free to do what it wishes, but there is no lock, no gate, no bolt that it can set upon the freedom of our minds. This is a battle which they will never win because this is India, not China or Saudi Arabia," he thunders. Ask him if he anticipates any trouble with his love triangle, Hamari Adhuri Kahani, and he quips, "No, HAK is a heart moving tale of illicit love."

Daughter Pooja Bhatt who is producing Cabaret and Love Affair, says she has her my own censor board in my head. Double meaning dialogues were never her 'scene' and she can never look at the female form in a vulgar manner. "The biggest criticism against Jism 2 was that it did not have enough sex and humanised a porn star, projecting her as a person and not a plaything," she says.

The diktat is bound to affect upcoming Sunny Leone films. While, Pritish Nandy, the producer of Mastizaade, being directed by Milap Zaveri who wrote Masti and Grand Masti, refused to comment on the subject of double meaning dialogue, Bhushan Kumar, the producer of Ek Paheli Leela, insists that while his musical love story has erotic scenes, it doesn't have any objectionable words or violence against women. "If the law is passed, as a citizen of the country, I will have to abide by it too," he adds.

Pooja doesn't agree. "We must have the audacity to go to the Revising Committee or even the Supreme Court. Most people don't have the grit to take on the system but I do," she insists.

Meanwhile, Hansal Mehta who is filming Aligarh, about a homosexual professor, caught on spy camera having consensual sex with a rickshawallah, has tweeted, "Dear Indian government, if you decide what I should make and what my characters can say, then, why don't you also fund my films?" He added, "Dear Censor Board, go screw yourself." Richa Chadda endorsed his views in a 2013 video, Shit Indian Censors Say, which has now gone viral. And Ashoke Pandit, a member of the Censor Board and President of Indian Film and TV Directors Association, is planning to approach the Information & Broadcasting Ministry with representatives of producers, directors and technical associations. "I'm a filmmaker myself and I don't agree with these creative restrictions on potraying a character. A sex worker will sound like a professor now?" he grouses.

CBFC Chairperson, Pahlaj Nihalani, who's at the centre of the storm, points out that he's a filmmaker too and it is not his intention to harrass anyone. "These are not my rules. I have merely listed the guidelines of the Board for new members and producers applying for certification," he reasons. "Earlier, people got away with a lot of objectionable stuff by bending these guidelines and we ended up with cases filed against these films after their release. We can't allow that anymore."