The anticipated face-off between the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) and its former chairperson Pahlaj Nihalani has been diffused. When Pahlaj, who is the presenter and distributor of the film, approached the CBFC to certify his film, a section of the media accused the self-styled sanskaari former censor chief of peddling soft-core porn once he was out the censor seat. Now, Julie 2 has been cleared by the CBFC with an ‘Adult’ certificate with no cuts.
Pahlaj Nihalani
Pahlaj is happy about this. He says, “This is just what I had hoped for. If I was still the CBFC chairperson I’d have given Julie 2 an ‘Adult’ certificate with no cuts.” Adding that Julie 2 is a clean film for adults, the ex-CBFC chief says, “It is a clean adults film for adult members of a family. Though it’s a film on an adult subject — the exploitation of strugglers and newcomers in Bollywood — the film has no nudity, no skin show, no double-meaning dialogues. Like I said, it is a family film for adults and the CBFC has done the right thing.”
About charges of hypocrisy being leveled at him for peddling soft-core porn after espousing Puritanism as the CBFC chairperson, Pahlaj protests, “Soft porn or soft corn, or harsh reality. Let the film release. The world will know.”
