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‘WRONG TO BLAME ONLY NIHALANI’
Kalki Koechlin feels the CBFC as a body must be held accountable
The majority of Bollywood is happy with admanlyricist Prasoon Joshi replacing the dispute prone Pahlaj Nihalani as the chairperson of the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC), also called the Censor Board. But actor Kalki Koechlin believes that it’s wrong to accuse Nihalani alone for the myopic view of the board, as has been evident over the past few years.
“I think it’s a very negative attitude to put all the blame on him,” says Kalki. “I think it’s a combination of people that make up the board, and they were equally responsible for whatever happened when he was the chairperson.
To hold someone responsible for all that was wrong with the board is a wrong practice in itself,” adds the actor, who will soon be seen in the film Jia aur Jia, co-starring Richa Chadha.
Kalki, however, does hope that Prasoon brings about a change in the way the Censor Board functions. “I know Prasoon. I’ve worked with him in Margarita with a Straw (2014), and I know he is a wonderful human being. It’s great that somebody like a Prasoon Joshi is the chairperson of the Censor Board,” she says. Prasoon was appointed with effect from August 11, 2017.
Like her Bollywood colleagues, Kalki, 33, wants the CBFC to issue a certificate, instead of censoring or banning films.
“I hope,” she says, “that people realise that the board’s function is not to censor or ask for cuts. It’s to issue a certificate on the basis of the content in the film.”