Phillauri
Phillauri posterTwitter

Even as Anushka Sharma's Phillauri, which released in theatres on Friday, March 24, has been receiving a positive response from viewers and Bollywood critics alike, a rumour started doing the rounds that the film came under the scanner of the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC).

It was being said that the censor board had asked the makers to mute a scene where Suraj Sharma chants Hanuman Chalisa in the presence of ghost Sashi (played by Anushka), as they felt that it might hurt the religious sentiments. It was said that the censor board found the scene inappropriate as ghosts are expected to get scared with the recital of Hanuman Chalisa.

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However, it turned out that the report was false. A source close to the film has exclusively told International Business Times India that Hanuman Chalisa was not used in the movie at all. "Hanuman Chalisa has not been used in the movie. There is nothing of that sort. If it was muted or if there was a disclaimer then you can say something, right. There was nothing of that sort in the movie in the first place. I don't know where this has come out from," the source said.

CBFC chief Pahlaj Nihalani has also refuted the report "This is not true. I don't want to comment on it. You can talk to producers about it. Whatever they say is right," he told the Indian Express. 

Directed by Anshai Lal, Phillauri is Anushka's second production under Clean State Films after NH10. The film is set in Punjab and revolves around the story of an NRI (played by Suraj), who is manglik and is forced to marry a tree before his actual wedding. However, things go wrong when he realises that he married a ghost Shashi, who resides in the tree.