With Pahlaj Nihalani’s likely exit, here's a look at his sanskari tenure as Censor Board chief

Censor Board chief Pahlaj Nihalani with actor Akshay Kumar

The current Censor Board chief Pahlaj Nihalani has been a controversy’s child since the time he took charge as Chairman. This time he is in news as Ministry of information and broadcasting sources have indicated that Nihalani will be replaced.

Film maker Prakash Jha and TV producer-actor Chandraprakash Dwivedi are said to be in the race for Chairman’s post at Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC).

A meeting of CBFC members has been called by Nihalani in Thiruvananthapuram on July 28.

Nihalani’s tenure has been the most 'sanskari' time for the Indian film industry. Recently, he suggested banning of smoking and drinking from movies. According to him, a ticker during a smoking or drinking scene is not enough.

His idea of censorship for movies has always been the bone of contention for filmmakers who argue that after film certification there should be no bleeping of scenes. However, films like Udta Punjab, Lipstick Under My Burkha and a documentary on Nobel laureate Amartya Sen’s life have been the victim to CBFC chief’s editing demands.

Lights, camera, action……CUT

Nihalani took the position of Censor Board chief in 2015 and since then he has been taking the call for what is fit for Indian audience. At the time of Shahid Kapoor and Alia Bhatt-starrer Udta Punjab, Nihalani had objected on the word Punjab. The objection had faced flak from many in the film fraternity and he was even called Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s chamcha. Apart from making changes in the film’s title, Nihalani had ordered 89 cuts in the film. But, the decision was dismissed by the Bombay High Court and the film hit the theatres with just one cut.

It is not just kissing scene or cuss words that have bothered the CBFC chief. He had raised objection on the word cow as well. Makers of the documentary on Amartya Sen, The Argumentative Indian, were asked to delete the words Gujarat and Hindu India, along with the word cow. These objections raised eyebrows in the film industry and actor Kabir Bedi had tweeted, “Censor Board has no idea how much it is damaging India’s image with their stupid demands. Pahlaj Nihalani is a disaster.”

And, the disaster continued. Next on target was Lipstick Under My Burkha that had to struggle for its release. The film saw light of day only after 27 scenes were deleted from the movie.

Recently, Nihalani raised objection on yet to be released Harry met Sejal, starring Shah Rukh Khan and Anushka Sharma. The film’s trailer mentions the word intercourse (sex) which has offended the moral guardian. He argued that such words corrupt young minds and that it is against the Indian culture.

Fate of films during the tenure of previous CBFC chiefs

Fate of films was no different during the term of previous heads of the Censor Board. Actor Sharmila Tagore was heading the Censor Board from 2004 to 2011 and she too had made objections similar to that of Nihalani.

The 2015 James Bond film Spectre had released in India with words like idiot and cats as a replacement for profanities like asshole and balls. Even long kisses from the film were edited and lovemaking scenes were chopped off. Twitterati had then started a trend called #SanskariJamesBond.

Tagore had argued that what works for the urban audience may not go down well with the suburban population.

But, things were different during the time of Leela Samson, a Bharatanatyam danseuse and a Padma Shri award winner. She turned out to be a strong support to the Aamir Khan-starrer film PK which was under the censorship scanner for its religious storyline. The Board had argued that few scenes in PK could the hurt religious sentiments. Refuting the board’s argument, Samson had said that every film may hurt religious sentiments of somebody or the other. And, she took a strong stand that no scenes from the film will be deleted.

Her resignation had come after she had refused to clear the film MSG- The Messenger of God, featuring Dera Sacha Sauda chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh in the lead role. Film Certification Appellate Tribunal (FCAT) had intervened for the movie’s clearance.