Veteran filmmaker Shyam Benegal, who heads the government appointed revamp panel of the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) watched Anurag Kashyap,s ‘Udta Punjab’. While Pahlaj Nihalani has demanded 89 cuts including the deletion of all the references to Punjab, Shyam Benegal appreciated the film for being ‘well-made on drug issues’.
“It’s a well-made film which brings focus on to a very serious problem; the problem of drugs."
While elaborating about Punjab, Benegal stressed that since Punjab is a border state, the film becomes all the more important. “If Punjab comes into the picture, it is incidental. Because it happens to be a border state as drugs tend to come in South Asia via Punjab." Stressing that this is a very ‘serious problem’, he also said that the people of Punjab need to be extra vigilant.
He feels that everyone is looking at the film wrongly and should focus on the seriousness of the problem that the film raises. "Film makers have recognized the problem. We’re looking at the film wrongly, we should look at it in terms of the prob of drugs. The fact that the drugs are so accessible to young people is a terrible problem. We must all tackle it together."
His committee includes as members Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra, Piyush Pandey, Bhawana Somaaya and Nina Lath Gupta. Sanjay Murthy, Joint Secretary (Films), Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, is member-convener.
When asked about the integrity of the censor board and Pahlaj’s opinion about the film, he said, “I don’t wish to make any comment on what CBFC has said as I’m not following that all. Well according to me, there needs to be no controversy as the problem of drugs and the movement of drugs into India is a serious one. We need to find ways of stopping that. And the film does bring it into the focus."
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