Kundan Shah humbly acknowl edges the fact that, P Se PM Tak could in all probability be his last directorial. But the 67-year old writer-director-producer whose film is complete and awaiting release has been busy battling the Central Board of Film Certification, who have already made numerous cuts to his film.

“The last time I faced a tiff with the censors was in 1994 for Kabhi Haan, Kabhi Naa,“ recalls Kundan. The director had filmed a long shot of Shah Rukh Khan locking lips with Suchitra Krishnamoorthi that had created a stir in the media. “But isn't it time we raise the bar for what can and cannot be censored?“ says Kundan.

His film, which follows the journey of a prostitute who goes on to become the Chief Minister and is eventually, asked to step into the position of the Prime Minister of the country has undergone over 40 audio cuts already. “And they are all because of the dialogues, since, there is not much skin show in my film.“

It began when the director was asked to replace the sentence, “Tu hain na iss muholle ki sabse famous kutiya“ with “Tu hain na iss muholle ki sabse famous item“.“But when I did replace it, they had a problem with that also. That's unrealistic.“

The CBFC's diktat to eradicate cuss words from Hindi films created quite a controversy on social media and the Censor Board Chief, Pahlaj Nihalani seems to have become even more stringent after his guidelines went viral. “I was asked to remove the names of all popular figures like Salman Khan, Jayalalithaa and Subrata Roy even if they were not being used in a degrading context.“ The director insists that both Pahlaj Nihalani and Ashoke Pandit have been his friends for years and the CBFC is just too scared to rub anyone the wrong way.

“Who are they so afraid of? I was told that a celebrity, religious group or political party could sue me as well as raise a finger at the Censors. And I had to keep going back and forth with my film in order to salvage it,“ he sighs.

When contacted, Nihalani said curtly, “We have made the necessary cuts and given Kundan Shah the appropriate certificate. When a director has a problem with the Censor Board he can go to the revising committee. But Kundan Shah has made the cuts and accepted the certificate.“