We’re More Liberal Than the Previous Censor Board: Pahlaj Nihalani

CBFC chief Pahlaj Nihalani makes no effort to conceal his love for Modi and considers himself a liberal.

Chairman of CBFC (Central Board of Film Certification) Pahlaj Nihalani has strongly defended his controversial stand on censorship in a recent interview published in the Mumbai Mirror. Nihalani has been accused of being too regressive for the post that he holds in the CBFC and is also perceived to be a stooge of the Modi government.

When asked about his film on the FTII students, Nihalani said that he’s not against the student body.

I am concerned about the students, because after all, these young people will come into the film industry. And the industry needs good people from the FTII. I want the students to focus on their work, and so my film won’t be against the students. But what the students are doing today (the protests) is not good. My film will be based on FTII’s working system, and the politics behind it.

- Pahlaj Nihalani, CBFC Chairman

Well, he sure sounda rather diplomatic here. But why then did he call them ‘anti-national’?

I was misquoted. I called those people who are returning their awards as anti-government. And some of these students are being instigated by filmmakers who are anti-government.

- Pahlaj Nihalani, CBFC Chairman

Nihalani considers his decisions to be more liberal than the diktats issued by previous censor boards.

I am not tough on anything, otherwise all films would have been rejected. Under my chairmanship, hardly any movie goes into the revising committee. We clear movies at the first step itself. We are more liberal than the previous board.

- Pahlaj Nihalani, CBFC Chairman

Talking about the need for censorship, Nihalani says that a line has to be drawn and that everything can be shown freely and openly.

There has to be a Lakshman Rekha. Few thousand people on Twitter don’t know what India is. India is a land where people put Gangajal on their face. Aap chahte ho aise desh mein sab free ho? Even if some producers decide to put their films only on the digital platform, the government will definitely introduce censorship.

- Pahlaj Nihalani, CBFC Chairman

Clarifying his stand on the recent cuts imposed on the Bond film Spectre, he says-

There was not a single kiss shown in Skyfall. That time no one thought of the sanskaari thing? We have passed the kiss! We only asked them to reduce the duration by 20 seconds.

- Pahlaj Nihalani, CBFC Chairman

CBFC chairman also accuses his colleague Ashoke Pandit, who has been voicing his opinion against Nihalani quite boldly, of spreading wrong information and creating a panic in the industry. When questioned about the logic behind cutting down the duration of an on-screen kiss in Spectre, Nihalani replies angrily saying-

This means you want to do sex in your house with your door open. And show to people the way you are doing sex.

- Pahlaj Nihalani, CBFC Chairman

Read the full Mumbai Mirror report here.