Prakash Jha Locks Horns With the Censor Board

Posted on January 20, 2011 by Action for Freedom — 3 Comments

Mumbai: Yet another controversy involving

Sharmila Tagor

filmmakers and the Censor Board is surfacing. It’s filmmaker Prakash Jha who has locked horns with the Censor Board over allegations that the promos of his new production ‘Turning 30‘ were broadcast without the Board’s certification.

“Censor board is nonsense. There should not be any censorship for anything,” snapped Jha in a press conference on Monday. These comments followed a remark by the Censor Board chief Sharmila Tagore that Jha’s film ‘Turning 30’s trailers where running on television without any certification. The film’s director Alankrita Srivastava along with producer Prakash Jha brought to the media all the certificates the censor board had passed prior to its release.

“I want to clarify that the very first promo of ‘Turning 30’, which was censored in the month of May, was actually given a ‘U’ certificate,” Jha told the newsmen.

However the Censor Board CEO explains that the issue was simply a matter of miscommunication that resulted from the disapproval of the first set of promos of the film by a few members, which were later toned down and certified.

“When Mr Prakash Jha says he has all the promos certified he is very right. Instead of going to the media, the producer should have called up the chairperson to clarify the issue,” said Pankaja Thakur, CEO, Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC).

Prakash Jha Productions’ next release ‘Yeh Saali Zindagi’ was also reportedly in trouble with the censors because of its title. Apparently, Sharmila Tagore had stated that she was uncomfortable with the title. But the Censor Board CEO clarified on this issue as well. She said Tagore’s comment was her personal opinion and was not made in an official capacity.

It looks like there’s a misunderstanding that’s been settled before it could snowball into another publicity-driven controversy.