Censor board chief Pahlaj Nihalani on Sunday alleged that Hansal Mehta, who directed the movie Aligarh, was making an issue out of the A-rating given to the trailer, for publicity. PTI reported that Mehta criticised the censor board for the trailer's adult rating and called the board homophobic. The film is based on a real life incident where a professor was fired from Aligarh Muslim University for his sexual orientation. Nihalani, in response, said "Is homosexuality a topic for children and teenagers?"

Mehta had said the censor board reduced promotion of the movie by giving the trailer an A certificate. He also said he was surprised by the cuts in the film and that the censor board was behaving exactly like “the people who suspended” Shrinivas Ramchandra Siras, the professor from Aligarh Muslim University. Nihalani said Mehta's comments were a publicity stunt. He added that the makers could approach the revising committee if they objected to the film’s or trailer’s rating.

Nihalani said the movie had no visual cuts, and that the board only made a few verbal cuts, and was not trying to sabotage Aligarh. He also cited sex comedy Mastizaade as an example of a movie where many cuts were demanded – the film had up to 350 cuts, and another in the same genre, Kya Kool Hai Hum 3, had 200 cuts.