New director Abhishek Saxena’s Phullu has been given an ‘A’ certificate, making the film’s cast and crew rather angry. Team Phullu feels that the film’s message around menstruation and sanitary napkins, needs to be seen by the young, as well as the old. But censor chief Pahlaj Nihalani feels otherwise.
It may be a subject that needs to be addressed to younger audiences. But in our society, we still do not talk about ‘that time of the month’ with our daughters. Mothers keep their discomfort during ‘that’ time a secret from the family and a daughter, when going through ‘that time of the month’ is not allowed to go to school during those difficult 3-4 days.Pahlaj Nihalani, CBFC Chief
While this is the sad truth of our society, Abhishek Saxena’s very intention behind making a film like Phullu was to rid the natural phenomenon of the shame attached to it.
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But Nihalani feels there are two realities of India.
The one in the metropolises and the other in smaller cities and villages. In the non-metropolitan parts of India, there is a still a purdah over certain facts of life. When we certify films we have to be sensitive towards that ‘other’ India, which doesn’t exist in the metros.Pahlaj Nihalani
How can we hope to sensitise young boys and men in rural India, if they’re never exposed to a new perspective? But Nihalani accuses the makers of Phullu of pandering vulgarity instead.
Phullu’s poster shows a man lying down on a sanitary pad. Why should a man be happy posturing like that? It’s vulgar.Pahlaj Nihalani
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