Anushka Sharma’s ‘Phillauri’ in trouble with the CBFC?

Anushka Sharma’s second production, ‘Phillauri’, hit the theatres today. In the film, Anushka is playing a ghost named Shashi, who begins to stalk an NRI who has been married to a tree owing to the blind faith of his superstitious family.

(Also read: Anushka Sharma flaunts her ‘Phillauri’ inspired shoes at the airport!)

While the CBFC has passed the film with just one cut and ‘UA’ certificate, they have made it clear that their guidelines do not support the promotion of superstitions through cinema. Talking about this, CBFC chief Pahlaj Nihalani asserted, “In my opinion, it’s not the CBFC’s job to sit in judgment on the content of a film. We can only make amends in the presentation of the content. Not propagating superstition and blind faith falls in the jurisdiction of the State government. If we sat judgement over films on ghosts then we’d have to question why classics like ‘Mahal’, ‘Gumnam’, ‘Woh Kaun Thi’ and ‘Lekin’ were passed.”

The CBFC has demanded a lengthy disclaimer prior to the film by the makers that states they neither believe in any of the superstitions shown in the film, nor in the existence of ghosts.

The CBFC has further asked the makers to get rid of the ‘Hanuman Chalisa’ in one of the scenes in which a terrified Suraj Sharma is reciting it in a bath tub in the presence of the ghost. “The CBFC has asked for the ‘Hanuman Chalisa’ to be removed from the soundtrack. All the audience will hear now is Suraj long droning chant which would be inaudible,” added a source.

Lastly, the CBFC has asked the makers to insert a scroll in a sequence featuring a snake, stating that no snakes were harmed during the filming and that the scene is a product of pure computer graphics.

Credits: The DNA

(Also watch: Bollywood celebs attend the screening of ‘Phillauri’)