A vacation bench of the Bombay High Court on Tuesday rejected former Central Board of Film Certification chief Pahlaj Nihalani’s plea against the panel’s decision to order 20 cuts in his film Rangeela Raja, ANI reported. The film is scheduled for release on November 16.
Nihalani, who raked up several controversies during his tenure as the chairperson of the censor board, was sacked in August 2017. He told IANS last week that the cuts were influenced by personal vendetta against him as there are “no vulgar scenes or innuendo-filled dialogues” in the film. “When I was the chairperson [of Central Board of Film Certification] I left a lot of people angry and upset with me,” he said. “Now when my film has been submitted for censoring, they are taking out their frustrations on me. But I will not go down without a fight.”
Nihalani has accused Central Board of Film Certification chief Prasoon Joshi of being biased in favour of actor Aamir Khan’s film Thugs of Hindostan.
Nihalani had a controversial stint at the board. During his tenure there, he had called Lipstick Under My Burkha a “lady-oriented” film, and had also objected to the use of the word intercourse in one of trailers of actor Shah Rukh Khan’s film Jab Harry Met Sejal.
In July 2017, a month before he was sacked, he ordered a ban on actors drinking and smoking on screen, saying actors should set an example for the society as millions of people look up to them. He also issued a directive saying movies where alcohol is essential to the plot will be given “adult” certificates.
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