Jha accuses censor board

Censor issue

Filmmaker Prakash Jha has accused censor board chief Pahlaj Nihalani of asking for bizarre cuts in his upcoming Priyanka Chopra-starrer Jai Gangaajal, including the removal of word saala.

Jha said the cuts suggested by the Nihalani will ruin the texture of the movie and he has moved to the tribunal against the decision of the revising committee of the board.

“What can I say? He wanted to give an ‘A’ certificate. When I asked why, he said, ‘There are many abusive words in your movie. There is word saala. He wanted us to remove a few words and certain scenes but I don’t think it is an abuse. It is used regularly by people. It is important to the texture of the movie,” Jha told PTI.

“There is nothing explicit in the movie. My films deal with social issues and making those changes will be an injustice to my film.”

The director said he had first gone to the examining committee but the members there had a difference of opinion then we moved to the revising committee, which was presided by Nihalani himself.

Jha said Nihalani could have discussed and a solution could have been found but instead he handed over many cuts to him.

“He has suggested 11 cuts and told me to beep the word saala. If I begin to do that then I have to beep it in 50 places.”

Nihalani, however, told PTI that Jha was not telling the whole truth. “I can’t talk about each and every movie that comes for certification. Prakash Jha had come to us and we had agreed to give him an ‘A’ certificate without any cuts but he wanted a U/A certificate. We did not agree to it. He is not telling the entire truth,”
he said.