Modi

Narendra Modi

Kejriwal

Anna Hazare

Congress

NoC

Karan Johar

Salman Khan

Nihalani: They’ve used real footage ofand other leaders. It cannot be shownTwo filmmakers from Mumbai have been asked by the Censor Board chairperson Pahlaj Nihalani to get a no-objection certificate from none other than Prime Ministerto get their documentary on Delhi Chief Minister Arvindreleased in India.Khusboo Ranka and Vinay Shukla, the makers of Hindi-English documentary titled An Insignificant Man, have chronicled the anti-corruption protests of whichwas the face, and which resulted in the birth of the Aam Aadmi Party, the NDA sweeping to power at the Centre, and Kejriwal becoming the Delhi Chief Minister with a thumping majority.The documentary, produced by the Ship of Theseus director Anand Gandhi, premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival last year, and has since been screened at 40 festivals across the world. Over the next few weeks, it will be screened in Sydney, New Zealand, and Washington.Ranka and Shukla told Mumbai Mirror that the Censor Board asked them to delete all references to the BJP and thefrom their documentary, and also submit NoCs from Modi, former Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dixit, and also Kejriwal. They said when they approached Pahlaj Nihalani, he “threw them out of his office” saying he didn’t owe them an explanation.The filmmakers said they applied for certification in February. “At the end of the screening for the Censor Board’s examining committee, we were told the members didn’t want to speak to us or even hear us out. When we asked if they had any concerns, we were told that everything would be conveyed to us in a letter which arrived 10 days later,” Shukla said.The letter informed that the film had been referred by the examining committee to the revising committee (RC). When they approached Nihalani -- who last year was quoted as saying that he was “proud to be a Modi chamcha” – he told them he was not obliged to give them an explanation and summoned security guards to make them leave his office.A screening was then organised for the revising committee, which was attended by Nihalani. At the end of it, the filmmakers were told that the Censor Board wanted them to delete six references to the BJP and the Congress.“Is Mr Nihalani expecting the prime minister to do the Censor chief’s job now? If any of the concerned parties, including Mr Modi, Mr Kejriwal or Ms Dixit have a problem, they can challenge us in court. Why is the Censor Board acting as a watchdog for politicians and as the gatekeeper for the establishment? Its job is to certify films, not guard politicians. At least let them cite the exact scenes or statements they have a problem with, and which would require NoCs from these politicians,” Ranka said.She said this was a clear case of a filmmaker being denied the right to tell his/her story. “The footages we have used of politicians are of their public appearances, already documented and broadcast by several TV channels and newspapers. If journalists do not require NoCs for revealing information that is already there in the public domain, why should different rules apply to filmmakers? It’s like asking a journalist covering the Coalgate scam to get afrom a political party,” she said.Ranka and Shukla said they were surprised at the Censor Board’s statements that the documentary was “potentially damaging” to Kejriwal, and that it was passed without any cuts. “The bigger problem is, there is no forum to address these questions with the Censor Board, which shows no accountability or clarity in its mission or purpose,” Shukla said, adding the documentary was made with money raised through a crowd-funding campaign hosted by the filmmakers on their own platform, which brought in $120,000, nearly 600% more than their initial target.“We are first-time filmmakers with no political background. We moved to Delhi to make this fly-on-the-wall film which is so interesting to watch in the present context. We have 800 partners who want to know when the film is releasing in India,” Shukla said.Nihalani has already stated that no film should be allowed to be screened in festivals abroad without a certificate from the Censor Board. When Mirror got in touch with him yesterday, he insisted the Censor Board had not asked for any cuts.Regarding the NoCs, he said the makers had used “real footage”, including that of the Parliament proceedings, and also the real names of politicians from various parties.“Whenused Raveena Tandon’s name in a film, he got NoC from her. Ditto the makers of Jolly LLB 2 for a reference to. In this case, as they have referred to Mr Modi, Mr Kejriwal, and Ms Sheila Dixit among others, they should get NoCs from them. They say they have permission to use the footage but we don’t know that for a fact. So the NoC is a reasonable demand,” Nihalani told Mirror.When reminded that it would be an almost impossible task for the filmmakers to get NoCs from the prime minister himself, he said, “Even if someone uses a phrase such as ‘Modiji ka gaon’ in their film, we ask for the PM’s NoC. In this case they have used footage from his political speeches. We will only clear the documentary once we get the NoCs.”Again referring to Jolly LLB 2, Nihalani said, “In Jolly LLB 2, they made a mention of Bata and the company dragged the studio to court. The Censor Board was also made a party to it. Anyone can file a case, we can’t spend our time in the courtroom instead of doing our job. So the NoC is a must,” he said.The filmmakers have vowed to fight it out.