CBFC chief Pahlaj Nihalani lashes out against Amol Palekar

Recently veteran actor Amol Palekar wrote a plea to the Supreme Court against the pre-censorship process. Calling the censorship process for films redundant, Amol Palekar asserted that it was high time that as fraternity they 'reclaim our evaporating freedom'. In lieu of the plea, SC has ordered the Centre (I&B Ministry) and the CBFC to respond to his letter.

(Also Read: Amol Palekar files a plea against the CBFC in Supreme Court)

Reacting to Amol Palekar's legal recourse against the censorship process, CBFC chief, Pahlaj Nihalani said, "He has no idea what he’s talking about. He wants the Cinematograph Act to be scrapped, that films should be given censor certificates without any cuts or without even viewing. But how can the content of a film be determined or evaluated until seen? Every film is a reflection of the director’s personal vision. It has to be certified accordingly. The kind of films that Amol Palekar worked in hardly gave him any experience in the field of censorship. Films that Hrishikesh Mukherjee and Basu Chatterjee made, never needed to be censored.

The censor chief further asserted that he believes that Palekar has a hidden agenda for demanding the change. Nihalani added, "Perhaps after directing a flop like Paheli, Palekar wants to do a more spiced-up, eyebrow-raising film that may get him into a huddle with the censors. Before that happens, he wants censorship to be abolished"

Signing off Pahlaj said, "Cinema has changed from the time Palekar used to act in all those Rajshri Productions films directed by Basu Chatterjee. Back then, there was mono sound. Now, there is Dolby Atmos. Every nuance and twitch is amplified now. So the CBFC needs to look into each of these nuances, which Palekar fails to understand."

CREDITS: DECCAN CHRONICLE