'I am not worried about censorship'

Bold stance

As his upcoming film Aur Devdas – a hard-hitting political take on Sarat Chandra Chattopadhyay's romantic-tragedy – gears up for its release soon, director Sudhir Mishra says he is not bothered by the recent censorship issues.

The filmmaker, who earlier faced the heat of the censor board for his movies like Dharavi (1992) and Hazaaron Khwaishein Aisi (2005), said censorship is an old issue.“I am not worried about censorship, it is my country and I will fight for what I want. It is not as if censorship is beginning now, everybody is thinking it is happening now but we have problems all the time and you have a way of handling it,” Mishra told PTI.

Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) locked horns with Bollywood over its recent decisions, including removal of the word ‘lesbian’ from Dum Laga ke Haisha, followed by denying the primary clearance to Hollywood erotic romance Fifty Shades of Grey.

The board also delayed the release of Anushka Sharma's NH10 by objecting to certain scenes in it.The film industry has also been battling with the new list of 28 banned cuss words issued by CBFC.Mishra along with other prominent Bollywood celebrities like Aamir Khan and Deepika Padukone met Minister of State for I&B Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore to raise their concerns over the censorship.

“When I made Dharavi, I was denied the right to exhibit. When I made Hazaaron..., it had censor issues but not any other problem. I make films with the confidence that it is my country and I can say whatever I want to...,” he said.Mishra, whose last release was Arjun Rampal-Chitrangda Singh starrer Inkaar, has kept his fingers crossed for the release of Aur Devdas.

“Aur Devdas is my most hard hitting film yet. Hopefully, there will be no issue with it. The shooting is finished,” the director said.Starring Rahul Bhat, Aditi Rao Hydari and Richa Chadha in lead roles, Aur Devdas is expected to hit theatres  in September.