Vijay Anand to Nihalani: NDA’S Censor Board woes continue
NDA tries to balance between ‘neo-liberal’ Vijay Anand and ‘ultra-orthodox’ Pahlaj Nihalani
keeping in view this framework.”
Whether the newest panel’s suggestions are actually translated into reality or it faces the same future as many panel reports — gather dust in government offices — are yet to be seen. But censor boards had often courted controversies.
During the UPA regime, noted actor Sharmila Tagore had become the censor board chief. Rakesh Omprakash Mehra’s second film Rang De Basanti came for certification. The film’s storyline evolved around youngsters who planned to avenge their friend’s death due to an allegedly faulty fighter plane.
As the topic dealt with defence establishment, Tagore took no chances and invited then defence minister Pranab Mukherjee for a special screening to decide if the film needs to go to the chopping board.
Mukherjee sat through the first half and at the interval he stood up and famously told Tagore and Aamir Khan, “As the defense minister, my job is to protect the country, not to certify films.”
Vijay Anand wanted to take Indian films to an entirely new liberal level. Nihalani thought of taking it back by a few decades when flowers used to be shaken to demonstrate physical prox imity between the hero and the heroine.
The producer of Aankhen and Ilzaam didn’t even allow James Bond to kiss his heroines for more than few seconds.
Now, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has taken it upon himself to change the way the Censor Board works. “In sync with the vision of Hon’ble Prime Minister, a committee has been constituted…” read a government press release that is widely seen as a censure for the Nihalani’s Censor Board.
Between Anand and Nihalani—possibly the two extreme points of view, NDA is still trying to strike a balance.