Gunda's 'star director' in trouble for lafda done khullam khulla: one film for CBFC, another for theatres!
Mohar Basu (MID-DAY; September 7, 2016)

Last month, Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) chief Pahlaj Nihalani registered an FIR against producer Kanti Shah for "illegal interpolation of vulgar content" in horror-erotica, 'Ghost House'. The Board had cleared the film with an 'A' certificate, but theatres were, shockingly, screening portions that weren't part of the censor copy. Interpolation is common with B-grade films, but in this case, Nihalani claimed that the footage was 80 per cent interpolated.

CBFC member Ashoke Pandit, who had certified the film originally, says, "I remember watching the movie. It was terrible, and I had made many cuts. The film that is playing in theatres is entirely different from the one certified by us. They are showing a porn film to people. There should be criminal proceedings against Shah for tampering with certified content, but I am not sure what the status of the case is."

Clearly, that hasn't happened yet, although DCP Vinayak Deshmukh of MIDC Police Station (Andheri East) says, "The probe is underway. We are trying to find solid evidence against Shah."

The film, which released in a few parts of Maharashtra, including Nagpur, and several small centres in North India, continues to find screens in towns.

When quizzed on the same, Shah said, "I am at a Ganpati Puja right now. It is an auspicious day, not the right time to talk about this."

Repeated queries to Nihalani went unanswered. He had earlier summoned Shah on finding out about the film from an exhibitor in Nagpur. But, when the producer didn't show up at his office after repeated requests, Nihalani took the legal route. After all, one of the major amendments suggested by the CBFC boss in the Cinematograph Act was taking interpolation seriously.

Anurag Shrivastav, CEO of CBFC, says, "The CBFC had filed the FIR. We weren't asked for any specific document or reference. Once the complaint is filed, we don't have much role to play. The police have to give us feedback."

Subhash K Jha (DNA; August 17, 2016)


Says the CBFC chief Pahlaj Nihlani, “We were shocked to know about the film called Ghost House from a theatre in Nagpur. The exhibitor was so shocked by the vulgar content that he stopped the screening voluntarily. When we checked on the content we were stunned to know that nearly 80 per cent of the footage being shown was not certified by the Censor Board.” Nihalani says it is common practice for a certain bracket of film producers to peddle sleaze illegally. “It is an age-old practice to interpolate so-called sexy footage after the CBFC certifies a film. Lekin yeh toh hadd ho gayi! (This is the limit). Eighty per cent of the footage is interpolated.”

Kanti Shah was initially served a notice by the CBFC to present himself at the censor office and explain the shocking aberration. “However, Shah informed us that he was busy until next week. So, we’ve lodged an FIR against him (a copy of the FIR is available with this paper) and we intend to advice the government to take the strongest action against Shah,” says Nihalani.

The CBFC chairperson blames the digital downloaders for encouraging this sort of illegal screening. “Why don’t they check the length of the film written on the Censor Certificate and the length of the actual footage shown? To avoid piracy we have stopped producers from submitting DVDs of their films for Censor Certification. But many unreliable producers are sending us feelers to accept films on the DVD format, as this gives them a chance to tamper with the content after we certify films. But we are very particular about keeping check on what goes into theatres after the CBFC certifies films.”