Nawazuddin Siddiqui’s Babumoshai Bandookbaaz which has some bold scenes in it has been asked to make 48 cuts by Pahlaj Nihalani, chief of The Censor Board of Film Certification (CBFC). This news came as a shock to the entire cast and crew of the film and Indian Film and Television Directors’ Association (IFTDA) came to support the film and also held a meeting on Wednesday evening.
The director of the film Kushan Nandy, who is in a state of shock, revealed his experience with the CBFC. “They discussed the film and we were called in. They said they will give us an ‘A’ certificate which is fine. But they ordered ridiculous cuts like saala. One of them even asked why I even made this film at all,” rants Kushan.
Kushan further revealed, “I went to meet Pahlaj Nihalani. He said ‘You’re lucky otherwise I would have banned your film, you have opened an entire dictionary of abuses in the film.’ He added that how does he stop children from entering and watching the film. I told him, that it is a law and order problem and not mine. But he ripped apart the film, there’s nothing left of it what with all the cuts.”
Things took a serious turn with IFTDA coming out in support of the makers of Babumoshai Bandookbaaz. A letter to the Union information and broadcasting minister Smriti Irani has been drafted highlighting the alleged humiliation of producer Kiran. The makers have now gone to the appelate tribunal now to get justice. He said, “Pahlaj said that the Board will double the cuts if we go to the revision committee. We have now gone to the tribunal.”
The producer of the film, Kiran, was allegedly insulted and sexist remarks were passed on her. She recalled, “We did expect a barrage of objections that would be raised during the meeting. We were fine with an ‘A’ certificate but they asked for 48 cuts. We asked why were there so many cuts when we were to get an A certificate anyway. They said because kids also watch an adult film — this reasoning makes no sense.” She added saying, “One of the lady in the committee even asked me why did I make this film despite being a woman. A gentleman remarked I couldn’t be a lady since I was wearing a pant-shirt. I was stunned. We discussed the cuts for nearly two hours. The attitude was very careless.”
The lead actor of the film, Nawazuddin said, “When the conditions are such that you are scared to improvise, it is a worrisome situation to be in. The characters will speak the language of the area. It makes the character authentic. Sometimes abuses are added to give weight to the character and add a local flavour. The more local the film is, the more global it’ll be. If you wash out films like these, then our outcome on the international platform will be zero.”
Filmmakers like Vikramaditya Motwane, Satish Kaushik, Alankrita Shrivastav and Anubhav Sinha among others were present at the event. Ashoke Pandit said, “IFTDA condemns all the cuts given to the film. We condemn the act where two members of the committee misbehaved with a lady. We request the I&B ministry to sack them with immediate effect. Also, Shyam Benegal’s committee report should be implemented soon so that we stop this and all of us have clarity.”
