MID-DAY (July 26, 2017)

Ever since he took office as chairperson of the Central Board of Film Certification in 2015, Pahlaj Nihalani has come under the scanner for his censoring actions, with a majority of industry folk citing his decisions unwarranted.

Rumours doing the rounds that the Board will replace the infamous chief comes as no surprise then, given that he also recently attracted the wrath of cinephiles and filmmakers for his stance against the “lady-oriented” Lipstick Under My Burkha and Madhur Bhandarkar’s Indu Sarkar.

While Nihalani has often shielded his decisions behind the archaic Cinematograph Act, the chief has now apparently come in the line of fire for contempt of court. A member of the Board, on condition of anonymity, tells mid-day that the Kerala High Court has issued a notice against the CBFC after Nihalani refused to certify the film, K A Bodyscapes (see picture below), putting the filmmaker in a soup for nine months.

The source says, “A screening was held for the CBFC in February, following which Pahlaj and his team refused to certify the film. The HC ordered him to give his verdict in May, and sent subsequent reminders.” When Nihalani failed to pay heed to the orders, a contempt of court issue was served. The team even requested for a two-months extension to due to “lack of funding to arrange the screening and the cost of bringing all the Board members together.”

Speculations suggest, the screening will happen in Thiruvananthapuram on  28 July. In the subsequent Board meeting, scheduled for the same day, Nihalani may be asked to step down. Our calls to Nihalani, went unanswered. A source says, “If he’s asked to step down, he won’t relent.”