Just as everyone thought that Anurag Kashyap might have finally learnt the politics of how to deal with the Censor Board, he has decided to go to war with them.
But in his defence, he had a just cause. The spat was over Udta Punjab, starring Shahid Kapoor and Alia Bhatt, which he has co-produced. The movie talks about the narcotics menace in Punjab where a large number of youths are drug addicts.
It was slated for release on June 17 but the Censor Board has stonewalled them at the certification process. Usually the Board has to give a list of changes they want for the movie to get certified and the filmmaker has the option to go through different stages of appeal.
In Udta Punjab’s case, after one stage, they refused to tell the film’s producers what their decision was. Kashyap was understandably furious because without the letter asking for changes in the movie they couldn’t go into appeal and that meant they wouldn’t be able to make the release date.
Also, he read newspaper reports that claimed that just under 90 changes had been sought and even ‘Punjab’ had to be dropped from the title. Kashyap went on a media blitzkrieg and spoke in detail about how dictatorial the Board’s chairman, Pahlaj Nihalani was.
Filmmakers, he alleged, had to go and personally sit before Nihalani and get a lecture on filmmaking before their movies would get passed. The reason Nihalani was so keen to see so many changes in this movie is because Punjab goes to election next year and the state is ruled by the political party that appointed him Board chairman.
Showing the drug problem might reflect badly on the party and so Nihalani was just looking after the interests of his ‘masters’, it is alleged.
Meanwhile Nihalani went on a counter offensive and in interviews accused Kashyap of taking money from a rival party to make this movie and he said that it showed Punjab in a bad light. The catch is of course that even if it did, it was not the Board’s business to correct it.
After all, everyone agrees that the Board should only certify whether a movie is suitable only for adults or for universal viewing, instead of changing it. Later Kashyap did get an official intimation from the Board asking for 13 cuts, insisting on the dropping of Punjab from the title and also to remove names of the state’s cities from the movie. The producers have gone to court now and the movie’s fate hangs in balance until the controversy is resolved.
Just another rumour
The latest rumour of a new relationship doing the rounds of is between Ranbir Kapoor and Kangana Ranaut. Gossip websites have been writing about how they are regularly in touch and were also seen together at an event.
It does not necessarily insinuate that there is a love affair and in all probability, even if true, that is something no one will know for a long time. But it is a connection that people are eager to make, given that Ranbir has recently broken up with Katrina Kaif and Kangana is also in the news because of her very public spat with Hrithik Roshan over whether they were lovers or not.
Also, while her relationships are always little bit of a mystery, she is not linked to anyone at the moment. Meanwhile, Ranbir is said to be not taking too kindly to these rumours of him and Kangana and might even be rethinking his policy of not reacting to baseless rumours.
Not pregnant
Recently it was reported that Kareena Kapoor was pregnant. The leading newspaper of India quoted a leading gossip website to even give an exact period — three and a half months — for which she had been pregnant. Others were more speculative.
When she went for an event in a loose fitting dress and kept her hand locked together in front, it was said that she was hiding her baby bump and that she had also been careful to not bend down too much. They also pointed to how she had not signed on any movie after the soon-to-be-released Udta Punjab.
Alas, they are all wrong apparently. Because Kareena herself came out in public to say that she was not pregnant. When a newspaper contacted her, she said that as a woman she hoped to become pregnant sometime but the latest flurry of rumours were misleading. And that when she did become pregnant there would be no secrecy around it since she had always been open about her life.
South calling
There are two times when Bollywood actresses test their luck in south Indian movies. One is when they want to break into the Hindi film industry and so doing a few initial movies down south gets them a launching pad. Both Aishwarya Rai and Deepika Padukone’s first forays were in South Indian films.
The other time when an actress does this is in somewhat different circumstances, when after being established in Bollywood, they have a string of flops and offers dry up. Then it might help to get a big budget south Indian movie that becomes a blockbuster.
Is that the path that Parineeti Chopra is following? Because word is in that she is now going to do a movie that will be shot in both Tamil and Telugu. For sure, it is a huge project, with the director being AR Murugadoss, who is the top southern director and has also made a Bollywood blockbuster, Ghajini. Parineeti is reportedly being paid a huge amount and the hero cast opposite her is also a reigning regional superstar.
So the movie is safe undertaking to be a superhit and that is something Parineeti needs. Her last Hindi movie, Kill Dil, was in 2014 and it was a flop. So she does need to do something to get back in the game. Recently, she also had an image makeover and from a chubby person became very lean and toned up. She is trying to reinvent herself and time will tell how successful it will be.
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POLITICS: Anurag Kashyap is again in a spat with the Censor Board over his latest production.
