In some relief to the makers of controversial movie Udta Punjab, the Bombay high court on Thursday observed that the present generation wants to watch movies that deal with mature themes and there should not be hue and cry over this. The court however, will continue to hear the arguments on this issue on Friday.
Petitioner Phantom Films Pvt Ltd had moved the court after the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) Revising Committee has suggested 13 cuts in the movie.
The division bench of Justice S.C. Dharmadhikari and Justice Dr Shalini Phansalkar-Joshi while hearing the petition observed that Udta Punjab has been issued an ‘A’ certificate and it is open for restricted viewers.
The CBFC wanted some scenes to be removed from the movie because it felt it was against the integrity of India and also because it purportedly showed Punjab in a bad light. However, Justice Dharmadhikari asked the Board if drug menace has never been portrayed on celluloid. “Some may be crude, while some may be artistic, how does this signboard insult anyone ” asked the judge on the suggestion that asked for the removal of a close-up of a signboard that has ‘Punjab’ written on it.
Senior counsel Ravi Kadam on behalf of petitioner argued that the film has highlighted drug abuse and corruption and how drugs is being pumped in from Pakistan and how it is taking a toll on youths. He had explained that in the movie, a top-level singer forgets his lyrics because of drugs and uses abusive words. He said it was a requirement of the movie to show how drugs impact on people.
When CBFC counsel Advait Sethna tried to justify the decision to remove the names of Punjab, Chandigarh, Jalandhar, Amritsar, Ludhiana and Moga wherever they are used in the film, the bench said there was a film on Moga (a district in Punjab) being a cancer town. “It was not to degrade the town, but to talk about the seriousness of the issue,” the bench said.
Justice Dharmadhikari also said that often Goa is portrayed in a negative manner in films, and said its name has also been used in the titles of films like Go Goa Gone. The judges also wanted to know how the use of words like elections, MP, party, MLA and Parliament were objectionable, which the CBFC had asked to be removed from the movie.
The petitioner had moved the court on Wednesday seeking a direction to the Board to provide a copy of the order passed on May 3 saying unless they had a copy of the order in hand, how could they proceed in the matter to undertake the changes purportedly suggested by the Committee. On court’s directions, the order copy was provided to the petitioner in a few hours and later the same day, the filmmakers challenged the cuts suggested by the Committee and arguments are going on in this issue. The movie is slated to be released on June 17.
