After the controversy, the censor board has now given an 'A' certificate with 13 cuts to Shahid Kapoor-starrer "Udta Punjab," Pahlaj Nihalani, the chairperson of the Central Board of Film Certification, told reporters on Sunday. Pahlaj also clarified that contrary to reports he never asked the makers to remove Punjab from the title of the film.
"'Udta Punjab' has been passed with an A certificate (restricted for adult audience)... We have given it 13 cuts," Pahlaj told reporters, according to IANS.
Pahlaj, who is in the centre of the controversy for demanding more than 90 cuts, said that nine members of the censor board watched "Udta Punjab" and gave a green signal to the film with 13 cuts. Talking about the producers, he said that it is upto them whether to go to the court or tribunal.
"Whether they are going to the court or tribunal, and what decision is the court giving, that's for them to see. The producer claimed that we had asked for the change in the title, but we never asked them for it," he said.
"The producer went to the media for publicity," he added.
The film has been in the news for the censor board asking for more than 90 cuts, which included words like "Election," "MP," Jalandhar," "Harami" and "Chandigarh." The makers along with the entire film fraternity condemned Pahlaj for demanding such cuts and his dictatorial ways.
However, now the revising committee has brought down the cuts from 90 to 13.
Produced by Phantom Films – one of the members is filmmaker Anurag Kashyap – and Ekta Kapoor's Balaji Motion Pictures, "Udta Punjab" is a film that shows the drug problem among youth in Punjab. The film, directed by Abhishek Chaubey, is slated to release on June 17.
The film features Shahid, Alia Bhatt, Kareena Kapoor Khan and Diljit Dosanjh in the lead roles.
