Anurag Kashyap is at loggerheads with the Censor Board once again as the CBFC (Central Board of Film Certification) has reportedly asked the producers of Udta Punjab to do away with any mention of Punjab, its government or politics from its scenes and dialogues.

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Given that the film is a criticism of the persistent drug abuse problem in Punjab, the decision to ask the makers to avoid any reference to the state is absurd. The Revising Committee of the CBFC has also asked director Abhishek Chaubey and the producers of Udta Punjab to get rid of 'Punjab' from the title.

But it is also understandable. The Shiromani Akali Dal-Bharatiya Janata Party (SAD-BJP) alliance is clearly paranoid about the fact that a major film with stars like Shahid Kapoor and Kareena Kapoor Khan, criticising the state's drug abuse problem and the government's incompetency to deal with it, will damage the reputation of the SAD-BJP-led state government ahead of the state assembly elections in early 2017.

As the opposition is expected to bank on the controversy to gain brownie points for the 2017 elections, Anurag Kashyap requested on Twitter today to not politicise the issue as he considered the fight a one-on-one with the Censor Board.

This is not the first time the Censor Board has had a problem with a Kashyap film or production.

Since its formation in 1951, the CBFC has time and again tried to choke our filmmakers' freedom of expression, throwing artistic liberty out of the window, branding mature, confrontational content as vulgar, unhealthy or "likely to incite commission of any offence".

While mainstream films often have their run-ins with the Censor Board, the worst of the brunt, historically, has been faced by non-mainstream films Fire (1996), Urf Professor (2000), The Pink Mirror (2003) and Bandit Queen (1994). While the first three were banned outright, Bandit Queen was cleared by the Supreme Court after the initial ban.



A still from Bandit Queen A still from Bandit Queen

Needless to say, these films had garnered rave reviews around the world and Bandit Queen won three National awards.

But few filmmakers have consistently challenged the high-handedness of the Censor Board the way Anurag Kashyap has. He has fought the CBFC at every turn, and rightfully so.

Paanch, Kashyap's directorial debut, was banned for release. This is something unheard of in the West, where films in their entirety are never banned. In the US, a film might get an R (Restricted) or an NC-17 (Adults Only) rating, but is never prohibited from getting screened.

A poster of Black Friday A poster of Black Friday

His second movie, Black Friday, based on the 1993 Bombay blasts, also ran into trouble. The Censor Board stopped its release in India for its "sensitive content" and the movie, which was completed in 2004, was released in 2007 after the Supreme Court cleared it.

Anurag Kashyap, thus, known for pushing the boundaries of commercial Hindi cinema, found a natural enemy in the Censor Board. They kept butting heads frequently over the course of his career.

A still from Water A still from Water

Deepa Mehta's Water, scripted by Kashyap, released in 2007, following several controversies. The film is based on the life and plight of widows in Varanasi, and faced stiff opposition from fringe elements even as it was being shot in India. After the shooting was shifted to Sri Lanka due to violent protests from various groups alleging that the script is 'anti-Hindu', the film that was ready by 2005, was released two years later, with several cuts.

Kashyap's Gulaal, initially rejected by the board for its politically charged content, was finally released with an A-certificate in 2009.

All his films thereafter got released, after some quibbling with the Censor Board.



A poster of Ugly A poster of Ugly

However, things went real ugly with Kashyap's Ugly. The film that was meant for release in mid-2013, was released in December 2014, because Kashyap did not agree with the board's mandate that every scene in Ugly which featured a character smoking should have an anti-smoking scroll. Kashyap fought the rule for a year, before he was compelled to release the film, following reports that it had been pirated online. However, Kashyap has promised to continue challenging the rule.

Now, as Kashyap and his partners at Phantom get ready to move court over Udta Punjab, his upcoming film Raman Raghav 2.0 is set to release on June 24. Kashyap has already made it clear that he would not like a single cut in the film. We hope it stays that way.