WHAT’S IN A NAME? PLENTY!
The CBFC wants NOCs for films in which dialogues or lyrics mention a famous name. Bollywood reacts to the rule
Does one need a friend’s permission to say her name? Bollywood may feel relaxed about it, because it’s sort of “all in the family”, but the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC), aka, the Censor Board, believes that permission is required.
And so, when film-maker David Dhawan took his film Judwaa 2 to the Board for certification, he was asked to first get a no-objection certificate (NOC) from actor Alia Bhatt because there’s a passing mention of Alia in one of the dialogues spoken by the film’s lead, Varun Dhawan. Without the NOC, that dialogue would have to go.
This isn’t a new rule, but it’s a rule that’s not always enforced. Veteran actor Manoj Kumar had expressed his unhappiness after the release of the Shah Rukh Khanstarrer Om Shanti Om (2007), in which he had allegedly been spoofed — Manoj Kumar said that his permission hadn’t been taken.
Anurag Srivastava, the CEO of CBFC, says about the latest case, “This has been part of the CBFC guidelines and any film-maker has to get a NOC from the person whose name is being used.”
In other instances, with films such as Shootout at Lokhandwala (2007) and Enemmy (2013), the names of other actors were deleted from the film or lyrics were altered to avoid any objections.
Former CBFC chairperson Pahlaj Nihalani says that this practice is a part of the guidelines. “No film-maker has ever objected to this. Bollywood is like a big family and everyone co-operates. During my tenure, this rule was there, but nobody talked about it,” says Nihalani, who was recently replaced by adman-lyricist Prasoon Joshi.
Doesn’t this add one more layer of paperwork for the film-maker? “It does become a little tedious,” says film-maker Shashank Khaitan. He adds, “We’re friends in the industry and generally keep [it] in mind about [getting] each other’s nod of approval, but if the CBFC wants it as an NOC, there’s no harm in that.”
Trade analyst Atul Mohan says that the CBFC “wants to be careful” because objections were raised in the past regarding songs with names of other celebrities.
Not everyone appears to know that such a rule exists. Film-maker Subhash Kapoor, whose film Jolly LLB 2 had references to Sunny Deol and Salman Khan, asks in surprise, “Has the new CBFC panel introduced this? I’ll have to find out.”
Film-maker Anubhav Sinha feels that this might just be an interpretation of a certain clause. He says, “Every time a CBFC chairperson comes in, they interpret a clause their own way. It’s a subjective interpretation. There might not be a clause that says, ‘If you use a celebrity’s name, you have to get an NOC’ in as many words. I’m sure a certain clause in the act (Cinematograph Act, 1952) can be interpreted in such a manner.”
It’s part of the guidelines. All filmmakers have to get NOC from the person who’s mentioned. ANURAG SRIVASTAVA, CEO OF CBFC We’re friends in the industry and generally keep [it] in mind about [getting] each other’s nod of approval. SHASHANK KHAITAN, DIRECTOR