In a major breach, Board Chairperson chose members who initially denied Bombay Velvet a U/A certificate, to serve on Revising Committee
Ankur Pathak (MUMBAI MIRROR; May 12, 2015)

Anurag Kashyap's Bombay Velvet was cleared with a U/A certificate last Friday by the Revising Committee (RC), after the Examining Committee (EC) argued that excessive violence and abusive language made it apt for adult viewing. Now, in a letter, a copy of which is with Mirror, it has been revealed that in a complete breach of rules, the RC had the same members (among a few others) who were on the EC. The screening was presided over by CBFC Chairperson Pahlaj Nihalani who insisted on three cuts - he snipped a kiss between Ranbir and Anushka, and insisted on editing out the words, 'son of a bitch' and 'haraamzaada'.

Senior Board member, Nandini Sardesai told Mirror she has filed a complaint against Nihalani and his autocratic ways with the Information & Broadcasting Ministry. She's also written to Union I&B Minister Arun Jaitley and Minister of State, Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore.

In mid-March, Rathore in a closed-door meeting with Bollywood bigwigs had stated that the CBFC's job is "not censorship, but certification" and Nihalani had "no business sitting in on Examining or Revising Committee screenings." Clearly, his lip-service hasn't translated into action. "It is unprecedented. Never in the history of CBFC has the RC had the same members as the EC. Nihalani claims he's following the book, but he's been flouting rules left, right and centre," says an aggrieved Sardesai who after reading the Mirror report about the film going to the RC, requested Nihalani if she could chair the screening. "A day before the screening, he told me he isn't aware when it's happening, then presides over it. I've taken the matter up with the Ministry. There has to be a solution to this autocratic nightmare."

Pahlaj Nihalani chose not to respond.
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Sonup Sahadevan (MID-DAY; May 12, 2015)

Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) chief Pahlaj Nihalani finds himself in hot waters yet again for alleged violation of norms related to film screenings.

Nandini Sardesai, a senior member of the board’s revising committee (RC), has written to the Information and Broadcasting (I&B) ministry accusing Nihalani of keeping them in the dark about Bombay Velvet’s screening while chairing it personally.

The Board’s examining committee had initially seen the film and suggested a few cuts. The makers then appealed for a revision and the screening was allegedly not conducted as per rules.

In a series of e-mails written to the Minister of State for I& B Rajyavardhan Rathore, a copy of which is with midday, Sardesai states that she had informed Nihalani thrice about her availability to be part of the screening, but was not called. She later found out that the revision preview was attended by the examining committee members all over again and not those from the RC — which includes her, Ashoke Pandit, Chandraprakash Dwivedi, Mihir Bhuta and a few others.

Expressing her grouse, Sardesai tells hitlist, “The chairperson comes into the picture only when there is a disagreement among the RC members. But all rules are being bypassed here. The same set of members of the examining committee along with Nihalani sit for revision screenings. The minister had clearly said the last time that the CBFC is a body where decisions and policy are framed together, not an institution to be governed by one person.”

Meanwhile, Nihalani did not respond to our calls or text messages.