Udta Punjab, directed by Abhishek Chaubey, has been cleared with an A certificate by the CBFC after 13 cuts. Speaking to reporters on the sidelines of an event in Bhopal, the chairman of the CBFC, Pahlaj Nihalani, said, “Nine members of the panel watched the film and unanimously cleared it after proposing 13 cuts.The CBFC’s job is now over. It is now up to the producer to go to the court or tribunal. We will implement whatever order is given.”
The CBFC had initially demanded 89 cuts to the film. It had also asked the filmmaker to remove all references to Punjab from the film. This did not go down well with the film fraternity, many of whom stepped out to support Chaubey. The whole issue quickly degenerated with both sides indulging in an all out offensive against each other.
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The film’s producers had approached the Mumbai High Court against the Revising Committee’s decision to make several cuts in the film. During a hearing on Friday, a division bench of the High Court was sceptical of the CBFC’s arguments on why the cuts were needed, but it also made comments about how ‘expletives and vulgar scenes alone cannot make a film work’. The court is expected to pass an order on the case later today.
Starring Shahid Kapoor, Alia Bhatt, Kareena Kapoor among others and produced by Phantom Films, the film portrays the rampant use of drugs in Punjab.