MUMBAI MIRROR (January 20, 2017)

After the acclaimed Ishqiya series, Naseeruddin Shah and Arshad Warsi are gearing up for a reunion, for a thriller, the tentatively titled Koi Jaane Na. Sunny Leone has been approached to play the female lead. The film will be written and directed by Swades and Lagaan actor Amin Hajee.

Producer Abhishek Jawkar told Mirror, “Arshad plays the lead while Naseer will be seen in a pivotal part. Sunny is expected to come on board by the end of the week. The story is set in a hill station so we will shoot either in Panchgani or Dehradun, recce is on.” The film goes on the floors by the end of the year.

Reduces cuts from 50 to seven
Sonali Joshi Pitale (MID-DAY; July 16, 2016)

The makers of upcoming crime-thriller, Missing On A Weekend, heaved a sigh of relief yesterday as they finally received a list of suggested cuts and changes from the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC). This development came a day after hitlist reported about a legal notice being sent to the Censor Board for delaying certification process. The film was screened on June 17 for members of CBFC’s examining committee, which suggested 50 cuts. This was verbally communicated to director Abhishek Jawkar. Despite constant reminders for a concrete list, Jawkar did not get any response from the Board and decided to take the legal route. After receiving the notice, the CBFC has now certified it as U/A and asked for merely seven changes.

Says Jawkar, “I was surprised that the letter asks for only seven cuts. That includes blurring the Kingfisher logo, deleting the word ‘harami’ and scenes showing drug consumption.” The director is relieved since the delay was leading to financial losses and plans to release the film in August first week. “I have no problem blurring the logo and including a disclaimer for a U/A certificate. But, muting ‘sniff ’ and ‘trip’, and deleting references to Goa in the dialogues would look funny. I shall consult my lawyer about the next course of action and approach the revising committee. I would like to explain to them why those words are important,” he adds.

Sonali Joshi Pitale (MID-DAY; July 14, 2016)

On June 30, hitlist had reported about the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) asking the makers of a crime- thriller titled Missing On A Weekend to do away with references of Goa among other “unjustified” cuts. Now, the film’s director, Abhishek Jawkar, has sent a legal notice to the Board for delaying the certification process and, thereby, stalling its theatrical release. The film, set in Goa, was sent to the Board for a preview on June 17 since the initial release date was June 24. However, with multiple films scheduled to hit screens that day, the makers postponed it to July 1.

Abhishek says, “The list of cuts and other suggestions have not been given to me in writing yet; it was communicated only verbally. My representative has been visiting the CBFC office everyday to get the letter, so that we can follow procedure to appeal against it before a higher authority. I have been told the file is with CBFC chairperson Pahlaj Nihalani.” He claims to have incurred huge losses due to the delay. “I started promotions assuming that the film will release July 1, but have ended up losing almost Rs 1.5 crore in this process. I will have to remind the audience of my film since public memory is short,” he adds.

The director says he has found support from film folk, including Anurag Kashyap who was involved in a censorship row with the CBFC for Udta Punjab, to fight unjustified cuts. “It is funny how they have let go of words like b*** h in one dialogue but are opposing words such as snip and trip. They have said Goa Tourism department feels my film is based on crime in that state and will mar the state’s image. On the contrary, they allowed me to shoot the film there and did not object to it then. If the Board does not respond to my notice, I will take them to court.”

We sent a text message to Nihalani for his side of the story, but he did not respond.

Makers of a crime thriller set in the tourist hub to move court after Censor Board suggests removing the state’s name from the film among other cuts
Anirban Das (MID-DAY; June 30, 2016)

Close on the heels of Udta Punjab makers knocking on the Bombay High Court’s doors over several cuts suggested by the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC), the team of an upcoming crime thriller has decided to take legal recourse as they are unhappy with suggestions of the Board’s examining committee. Abhishek Jawkar, director of Missing On A Weekend, claims that the CBFC has asked for the word ‘Goa’ to be removed from the film among other ‘unjustified’ cuts. The film is set in Goa and focuses on the surge in crime in the tourist hub.

The film had been sent to the Board for a preview on June 17, considering that it was supposed to hit screens on June 24. However, with multiple films scheduled for release that day, the makers decided to take their film to theatres on July 1. “We were expecting the Board to get back to us within a week, but when we did not get any date from them, we approached them again only to be told that it does not feature in their preview list. The screening took place later and we got to know that the CBFC has demanded unjustified cuts. This has been communicated to us verbally. How can they ask us to remove ‘Goa’ from a dialogue, ‘Goa mein ladkiyon ke bhav main tolmol hota hai, mukhtaar ke maal mein nahi’ when the film is set in that very state?” he asks.

Jawkar says the Board has also suggested words like ‘trip’ and ‘sniff ’ be deleted from a song as also a scene showing drug consumption. “They have also asked us to remove the Kingfisher logo. There are many such cuts, which, we feel, are unjustified. Our film’s release date was July 1, but now it has been pushed indefinitely,” he adds.

The makers do not seem to have faith in the Board’s revising committee and have made up their mind about taking the legal route to ensure that the film is certified with minimum cuts. “We have decided to move court since we don’t want to deal with the CBFC anymore,” Jawkar says.

But, that’s not where their problem will end. The director alleges that Goa’s tourism department also has raised objections to the state’s name being used in a film that is supposed to shed light on the increasing crime rate there. “The PR representing Goa tourism has told us that we should put disclaimers saying ‘This has not been shot in Goa’ every time there is a mention of Goa. We declare at the start of the film that the film is a work of fiction, but can’t have a disclaimer popping up on screen every time someone utters the state’s name. Their argument is that their tourism will suffer if we don’t do it, but I am not buying their point,” Jawkar explains.

Sanyukta Iyer (MUMBAI MIRROR; June 3, 2016)