'We've gone out of our way to retain the violent flavour of NH10'

'From the day I’ve taken over as chairperson of the CBFC, Ashoke Pandit and Chandraprakesh Diwedi have ganged up against me,' Censor Board chief Pahlaj Nihalani tells Subhash K Jha.

Two members of the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) Ashoke Pandit and Chandraprakesh Diwedi have levelled charges of autocratic functioning against the CBFC’s chairperson Pahlaj Nihalani.

In an interview with Subhash K Jha, Nihalani replies to the allegations. 

CBFC board member Ashoke Pandit has levelled certain charges against you.

I can tell you very categorically that I have been working within the Information & Broadcasting and CBFC’s guidelines.

Image: Neil Bhoopalam, Anushka Sharma and Darshan Kumar in NH10

Maybe so far the Censor Board has been functioning in a different way and some people don’t like the fact that I have restored discipline and transparency in the workings of the CBFC.

The criticism is that your style of working is tyrannical.

It is my duty to do my job to the best of my abilities.

As long as I am the chairperson of the CBFC, I won’t compromise on my work and I won’t buckle under pressure just because some people are uncomfortable with my way of working.

Do you think it was right of CBFC board members to go public with their grievances?

I don’t want to comment on any individual.

But if anyone chooses to go public with grievances against a governmental organisation, he or she is working against the interests of the government. It is ethically and legally wrong of them.

Has the I & B minister Rajyavadhan Rathore been informed about the revolt within the Censor Board?

If I answer that, I’d be doing exactly what these other board members are doing.

Let me just say that the minister is a very smart and intelligent person. He knows exactly what people are doing and those who are going against the guidelines are definitely brought to his notice.

Ashoke Pandit claims you see every film on your own and decide what is to be done.

As the chairperson, I have the right to either watch films personally as and how I want, or depute someone from the Censor Board to watch it.

If my predecessors have not been watching films personally, they were in the wrong.

If I am doing the right thing now, if I am clearing as many as five films in one day, why are some members of the Censor Board getting jittery?

Has your working method diminished the chances of corrupt practices?

For the first time in the existence of the CBFC, I scheduled five films to be watched by the Revising Committee on the same day.

Never before has the Censor Board watched more than one film on any given day. Is that not a good thing?

We went out of the way to schedule censoring of NH10. We didn’t want to delay their March 13 release.

Both Ashoke Pandit and Dr Chandraprakash Diwedi have accused you of being unfair to NH10.

Unfair? After seeing the film, audiences are laughing at such accusations.

We’ve gone out of our way to retain the violent flavour of the film. We have censored the film according to the script’s demand. That‘s how every film will be censored.

We only changed the dialogues a bit.

In the picture: Pahlaj Nihalani

I am a producer-director myself. I know what cuts can be made without affecting the narrative.

I wonder how CBFC board members commented on the picture without seeing it!

The film’s producers, including Anushka Sharma, too have protested about the CBFC’s censoring.

After the film was censored, the producers and directors said they were satisfied with the cuts.

They appealed to us not to cut certain scenes. All of us nine members conceded to their appeal for the sake of creativity.

We will deal with every film on an individual basis.

NH10 needed the violence. The social message is strong here.

The producers were happy. I don’t know why some of the CBFC board members are unhappy.

Are you saying Pandit and Diwedi have commented on your censoring of NH10 without seeing the film?

If they had seen the film, they wouldn’t have said what they did. I don’t know what they are talking about.

From the day I’ve taken over as chairperson of the CBFC, they have ganged up against me.

Without permission from the I &B ministry, they have been publicly commenting on the internal workings of the CBFC.

What would you say in your defence?

I don’t have to defend myself against such absurd charges.

From the day I took over as the chairperson of the CBFC, I have respected the opinion of each and every member of my Censor Board. They have worked to clear the backlog of films to be censored.

We have cleared all applications for censorship till March 4. Even the promotional clippings will now be cleared within 24 hours.

The film industry should see the CBFC as a friend, not as a hostile force.

How do you plan to deal with the revolt?

By doing my duty and working honestly.

I am not bothered with the naysayers; my work will speak for itself.

As for the protesters, they are violating the rules of the I &B ministry by working against the interest of the CBFC. The ministry will decide what to do with them.