Anurag Kashyap no longer has the patience to tolerate the senseless demands of the Central Board Of Film Certification. After demanding numerous cuts, the CBFC also demanded removal of the word ‘Punjab’ from the title.
And that is probably when Kashyap lost it.
I always wondered what it felt like to live in North Korea .. Ab to plane pakadney ki bhi zaroorat nahin..
— Anurag Kashyap (@anuragkashyap72) June 6, 2016
There is no film more honest than UDTA PUNJAB .. And any person or party opposing it is actually GUILTY of promoting drugs
— Anurag Kashyap (@anuragkashyap72) June 6, 2016
He even tweeted to the Prime Minister of India, Narendra Modi on this matter.
@narendramodi UDTA Punjab
— Anurag Kashyap (@anuragkashyap72) June 6,
Anurag probably didn’t realise that his tweets will be used by politicians too for their benefits.
I completely agree. https://t.co/qLLfkMjPvL
— Arvind Kejriwal (@ArvindKejriwal) June 7, 2016
No one escapes the social media without getting trolled, but sometimes they are just distracting.
And the trolls are out to create a diversion
— Anurag Kashyap (@anuragkashyap72) June 7, 2016
But the producer took a stand and told political parties to stop taking advantage of his situation.
I request Congress, AAP and other political parties to stay out of my battle. It’s my Rights vs the Censorship. I speak only on my behalf
— Anurag Kashyap (@anuragkashyap72) June 7, 2016
It’s my fight Vs a dictatorial man sitting there operating like an oligarch in his constituency of censor board, that’s my North Korea
— Anurag Kashyap (@anuragkashyap72) June 7, 2016
Rest of you go pick your own fights. I will fight mine.
— Anurag Kashyap (@anuragkashyap72) June 7, 2016
So please don’t colour my fight with any political affiliation because there is none.
— Anurag Kashyap (@anuragkashyap72) June 7, 2016
The decision by the CBFC, which was probably made under a lot of political pressure, attracted a lot of criticism from the film fraternity.
Anyone who says that drugs are not a problem in punjab is either unaware,complicit or has malafide intention #UdtaPunjab @_phoenix_fire_ 👍🏼
— soha ali khan (@sakpataudi) June 6, 2016
If instead of #UdtaPunjab they had called it ‘Girta Punjab’, perhaps, Censor would have cleared it as a realistic movie. #UdtaPunjab
— Vivek Agnihotri (@vivekagnihotri) June 6, 2016
” Censorship is the child of fear and the father of ignorance”. Is Pahalaj Nihalani listening ?
— Mahesh Bhatt (@MaheshNBhatt) June 6, 2016
Delusion or collusion? Why is the establishment so scared of films that mirror reality? #UdtaPunjabCensored
— Hansal Mehta (@mehtahansal) June 6, 2016
#UdtaPunjab speaks of the reality of our times….censoring reality amounts to delusion…..the fraternity has to stand by what’s right!!
— Karan Johar (@karanjohar) June 6, 2016
Not that everyone in CBFC nodded their heads in approval either. Ashoke Pandit, who is a member of the CBFC, tweeted this:
Going by Nihalani’s logic, issue based classics wud’ve nvr released: #SalamBombay (Prostitution),#Bombay (Riots),#NewDelhiTimes (Corruption)
— Ashoke Pandit (@ashokepandit) June 6, 2016
Just wondering what were to happen if these films would release now : #MrIndia, #MumbaiMeriJaan, #DilliKaThug. #UdtaPunjab #CBFC
— Ashoke Pandit (@ashokepandit) June 6, 2016
I as a #CBFC member appeal to the #Chairman to take a call as a filmmaker & protect the FOE of a filmmaker.#UdtaPunjab
— Ashoke Pandit (@ashokepandit) June 6, 2016
Tomorrow if I have to make a film on Maoists,I can’t use the word #Assam.Sad.#UdtaPunjab
— Ashoke Pandit (@ashokepandit) June 6, 2016
The only organisation that might benefit from all this trouble is Punjab’s Shiromani Akali Dal who have previously stated that the drug crisis in Punjab is a ‘myth’ created by Rahul Gandhi.
