Subhash K Jha (DNA; November 15, 2016)

Commending Shah Rukh Khan for his wholesome family-oriented cinema, the Central Board Of Film Certification (CBFC aka Censor Board) granted Gauri Shinde’s Dear Zindagi an all-clear ‘U/A’ certificate.

“There is not a single cut, verbal or visual. The Board actually said it would be a crime to cut even one shot from the film. They also singled out Shah Rukh Khan as the A-list actor with the least censorial intervention required in his films,” says a source close to the film.

R Balki who is the co-producer on Dear Zindagi has never had a problem with the Board. When he made Cheeni Kum he was told the unconventional love affair between a 60-year old man and a 30-year-old woman would raise eyebrows. But the film sailed through. In Ki & Ka, he was warned about the kisses between Kareena Kapoor and Arjun Kapoor. The Board didn’t touch a single kiss, arguing that intimacy between husband and wife was normal. In Paa, Balki was allowed the word ‘bastard’ as it was seen to be used in context.