Udta Punjab row: Filmmakers move Bombay HC against Censor Board

Producers of drug-themed Bollywood film Udta Punjab on Wednesday told the Bombay high court that they had got a copy of the order passed by the revising committee of the censor board and wanted to study it to decide whether to challenge the changes suggested by it.

Phantom Films, which produced the film, had earlier in the day moved the court seeking a copy of the order passed by the revising committee suggesting cuts in the movie and removal of reference to Punjab in it.

However, during the hearing, they informed a division bench headed by Justice S.C. Dharmadhikari that they wanted to amend the petition as they had just got a copy of the order. The order was passed on June 6, in which 13 changes were suggested by the revising committee of the censor board.

The producers informed that they will study the changes suggested by the committee and decide whether to challenge them. In that case, they would like to amend the petition. Accordingly, the court granted time to Phantom Films, a company floated by filmmaker Anurag Kashyap, to amend the petition and posted the matter for hearing on Thursday.

Meanwhile, major Bollywood celebrities like Aamir Khan and Mahesh Bhatt on Wednesday lent their support to Kashyap. Besides Aamir, other Bollywood heavyweights to come out in criticism of the censor board include Mukesh Bhatt, Zoya Akhtar, Imtiaz Ali, Sudhir Mishra and Kabir Khan among others. “I’m pained that the film is going through this. As per my knowledge, it is based on drug addiction and delivers a social message. I don’t think there is anything that should be cut or audience should be kept away...” he said.

In the press conference, Mahesh Bhatt said it was a shame that a movie which “holds a mirror” and shames the Indian society about the drug menace \"is being strangulated”. “This is not the industry’s problem at all, this is the problem of this country,” he said.

Another issue which cropped up during the hearing was whether the aggrieved filmmakers can move the high court directly without approaching the Film Certification Appellate Tribunal in accordance with the rules of Cinematograph Act.

Counsel for the film producer, Ravi Kadam, argued that the chairman of the Tribunal was out of town and therefore not available till June 14. As the film was slated for release on June 17, they had moved the high court. The law (Cinematograph Act) also provides that if the Tribunal does not sit for any reason, the aggrieved parties can move the high court, he said. The Revising Committee had suggested 13 changes besides removing the reference to Punjab.