New Delhi: India-Pakistan may be at loggerheads politically but the Pakistani Censor Board has recently set an example before our censorship authorities.
Proving more liberal in their cinematic sense, Pakistani Censor Board has found Anushka Sharma's NH10 suitable for all ages, unlike Indian Censor Board who despite chopping so much, granted an 'A' certificate to the film.
The Pakistani Censor Board asked the makers to remove the same list of words that Indian Censor Board had asked. But after the removal they released the film with a 'U' certificate.
Recently the Pakistani Censor Board had received flak for banning Akshay Kumar's Baby in Pakistan. The film was set to release on January 23 across Pakistan. But the authorities banned the film, citing the 'anti-Pakistan' theme as a reason. The Board stated that the film shows, Muslims in a bad light. However the director of the film Neeraj Pandey made it clear that the film is not anti Pakistan.
But it seems, this time Pakistan Censor board has been a bit lenient and understood the subject of women empowerment highlighted by Anushka Sharma's NH10.
Pakistan's Central Board of Film Censors (CBFC) is a regulatory body, which is governed by the Motion Picture Ordinance. This body follows the rules made in the year 1979. With main function of the board being censorship of films, the CBFC examines the films under the censorship code provided by the Federal Government. CBFC's head office is in Islamabad headed by the Chairman along with two branches in Lahore and Karachi.
The recent dissection of Anushka Sharma's crime thriller created a furor in the industry and within the board as well. Censor Board member Dr Chandraprakash Dwivedi wrote a strong-worded letter to Mr Pahlaj Nihalani and raised objection over the chopping of cuss-words from the film highlighting that the list of banned words could be implemented only after detailed discussion amongst the members.
The Censor Board had initially denied certification to Anushka Sharma's first home production 'NH10', though later revising committee granted an adult certificate to the film, effecting nine cuts in all.
With the recent controversies, Indian Censor Board has invited a lot of criticism for not clearing films in one go. And Bollywood celebs' yesterday's meeting with Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore, Information and Broadcasting Minister for State has proved that how upset filmmakers and actors are with the latest developments in the Censor Board.
After MSG: The Messenger's much-hyped Censor Board drama, Badlapur, Dum Laga Ke Haisha and even Anushka Sharma's NH10 faced the heat of the board. Many words and phrases were removed from the films that were communicating the exact expressions of the dialogue and were need of those films. Not only the words, but some scenes were also chopped from the films.
On which, Sriram Raghavan, director of film Badlapur, stated, "The language is commensurate with the characters' state of mind. These are not your average dinner table conversationalists. Nawazuddin (Siddiqui) is a killer. Varun (Dhawan) is a man on a rampage, and Huma Qureshi plays a prostitute."
With Pakistani Censor Board's such exemplary decision, we hope our very own Indian Censor Board will be bit compassionate with filmmakers.
