Udta Punjab gets its censor certificate on Wednesday around 7 pm; filmmaker Dibakar Banerjee addresses arbitrary cuts issue
Dibakar Banerjee (MUMBAI MIRROR; June 16, 2016) 




The cuts were unjustified and what's even more appalling is the acceptance of the unjustified - till the makers rebelled. That a film was being butchered to such an extent, with orders to remove all reference to a state or its cities was baffling. The High Court has rightly questioned the intention behind these cuts. What is it about the drugs issue that the ordinary Indian citizen doesn't know already? Are we not already aware that certain politicians and criminals are a part of this nexus? Don't we encounter such cases in our lives? Don't we talk about it in the bus or train? Why are we suddenly treating Punjab's drug problem as a secret?

In the case of Udta Punjab the producers and director were brave enough to go to court because the cuts were grievously injurious to their film. They had nothing to lose. But a hundred other films face cuts everyday and their makers, including me, don't have the courage or resources to approach the Tribunal because we are too close to the release date and want to protect our producers and ensure they don't suffer losses. If we have to go to the High Court every time to fight arbitrary cuts, it shows rather poorly on the body that is supposed to clear a film's exhibition by certifying what age group the film is fit for. Also why should a film maker have to defend the normal and the truthful at court as something deviant and almost criminally intended? What about the audience for whom the film is being made? Have we become a society where millions of adults (whose votes are avidly solicited, who constitute the economic engine of the New India) are suddenly reduced to voiceless idiots who have to hand over to a few people the decision of what they can or cannot consume as entertainment or food for thought? Do things have to come to this pass for us to be aware of the problem? It's like only after a child is killed us realizing that there is a child killer around. And what about regional and marginal films that do not have the chatterati value of Bollywood and the huge audience? How do they protest against the unfair cuts? Haven't we heard enough about the pendency of cases in our legal system to burden it with more litigational fights that need not have been so at all?

Indians need to respect the intelligence of other Indians. Until we trust our fellow Indians we will be treated like adolescents all our lives. It suits some, but it does not suit the world's largest democracy and one of its fastest growing economies.

The suggestion by the censor revamp committee to introduce an 'Adults with Caution' category, if true, is ridiculous and laughable, as the journalist who asked this question of me proved by not being able to suppress a giggle. Isn't Adult enough? When will we grow up enough? Vote dete hain. Bacchon ko palte hain. National Anthem pe khade hote hain. Chori ka nahi khate. Aur kitna bada hona padega bhai?

This from a committee headed by Shyam Benegal who's been our guiding light on dissent with films like Ankur, Manthan and Bhumika in which he took state oppression, feudalism, patriarchy and chauvinism head on? I find it difficult to believe. There must be some mistake somewhere.