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DNA (April 23, 2015)

Hansal Mehta’s fears, unfounded as they happen to be, that the CBFC (Censor Board Of Film Certification) would clamp down on his new film Aligarh, as it is based on the life of a homosexual professor, has deeply offended the CBFC’s chairperson.

Questioning filmmakers’ right to jump the gun and presume that there would be trouble for their film is according to Pahlaj Nihalani, a sign of the growing insecurity among a certain group of filmmakers who specialise in creating cinema with a shock value.

“By talking about the homosexual theme of his film Hansal Mehta is deliberately drawing attention to the supposedly bold theme and how risky it is for him to venture into it. But when have we at the censor board ever said we are against bold films? As for films showing a gay relationship, we’ve just certified Shonali Bose’s Margarita With A Straw which contains explicit scenes of love-making. We’ve repeatedly said the certification process will be film-specific.We’ll look at the content of every film individually.”

Describing Mehta expressions of fear as attention-seeking Nihalani says, “Let his film be completed. Let him submit it for a censorship. Then we shall see. Why jump to a conclusion even before the censor board has viewed the film? You are creating an aura of defiance as a defence mechanism for your film against the censor board.”

Nihalani is worried about the growing paranoia of certain filmmakers about the censor board. “There is no respect for the censorial decisions. In every interview producer Mukesh Bhatt described Mr X as a ‘U’ film (film for all ages). When in fact the CBFC had granted it a ‘U/A’ (with parental guidance). Why come to the censor board then? If there is no respect for our certification filmmakers might as well certify their pictures themselves.”