As the fight between Bollywood filmmakers and Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) chief Pahlaj Nihalani over the controversial film Udta Punjab is getting murkier day by day, the Central government has now come out clearly denying its involvement in removing the scenes from the film.
Union Minister for Communications and Information Technology Ravi Shankar Prasad has said that the government supports and celebrates creative freedom and has no role in the CBFC. Hitting out Pahlaj Nihalani for his statement that he is proud to be a ‘Modi chamcha’, Prasad said that such statements are avoidable.
“I think such comments need to be avoided. Our pradhan mantri describes himself as pradhan sevak of the country, and I don’t think the pradhan sevak needs any sycophants,” he told Indian Express.
On Wednesday, Nihalani had denied any political influence in the Censor Board’s decision to make the cuts in the film. He had, however, said that he is a proud chamcha of PM Modi.
“Yes, I am a chamcha of Narendra Modi as Anurag Kashyap said. I am proud to be, a Modi Chamcha (acolyte). Should I be a chamcha of the Italian Prime Minister instead,” he told NDTV.
