No religious needling, says Pahlaj Nihalani

The chairperson for the Central Board of Film Certification, Pahlaj Nihalani, nixes the notion that Malayalam movie Ka Bodyscapes was denied certification for it’s homosexual content.

“We, at CBFC, are not homophobic. We’ve passed films like Aligarh, Moonlight and Parched, which had homosexual themes,” he asserts. “No, the reason for rejecting certification to this film is its highly inflammatory references to Hindu religion and mythology. Our guidelines clearly state that any derogatory reference to any religion is absolutely prohibited. So let’s not even go there.”

However, Raj Kumar Hirani had a lot of light-hearted religious banter in PK. “I wasn’t the chairperson when PK was certified,” Pahlaj says. “If it took digs at religion, then it shouldn’t have been allowed. We can’t allow filmmakers to create a law and order situation in the name of art. If there are riots and protests, are the makers of Ka Bodyscapes willing to take responsibility?”