Bollywood filmmakers react to Bombay HC's verdict on 'Udta Punjab'

In a resounding victory for Udta Punjab makers who had been caught in a major censorship row and the artistic fraternity as a whole the Bombay High Court trashed the suggestions of the Censor Board which had asked for 13 cuts in the film The court in its order on Monday directed the Board to clear Udta Punjab with just one cut mdash Shahid Kapoors character urinating before a crowd mdash and certify the film with a reworked disclaimer The film centered on rampant drug abuse in Punjab had fuelled a political as well as artistic debateAlso readDont act like a grandmother HC to Censor Board on Udta PunjabShahid Kapoor in Udta PunjabWhile passing its judgment the bench observed None can dictate to the maker how to make his film and what should be the contextIt is entirely for them to choose the setting the underlying theme and story line However it did not agree with the makers argument that if cuss words had been allowed in many films in the past they should be allowed in Udta Punjab tooA twojudge bench headed by SC Dharmadhikari had earlier pointed out that Udta Punjab prima facie did not appear to glorify drug abuse one of the main contentions of the Censor Board for which it had suggested multiple cuts to the film coproduced by Anurag Kashyap and Ekta KapoorAlso readBollywood hails HC verdict on Udta PunjabAn ecstatic Shahid tweeted Landmark judgement UdtaPunjab will fly and so will the voice of freedom and expression Thank you all for the support This is your victory sicHis costar Alia Bhatt wrote And FINALLY UdtaPunjab will flyyyyyHeres to freedom of expression to our judiciary to the industry to the media and to YOU ALL sicKashyap also took to Twitter to express his joy over the judgment He posted Thank you To the honourable Judge thank you all for the faith and support Time to get back to work Two back to back releases sicComing soonConfirming that the film will be successful in keeping its date with the audience this Friday as scheduled Alia Bhatt tweeted saying Here we come UdtaPunjabOn17thJuneSoon after trade analyst Taran Adarsh followed with a post Mark the date UdtaPunjab to release on 17 June 2016 Just confirmed with BalajiEarlier there was speculation that the film wouldnt be able to arrive in theatres in time due to the longstanding stalemate between the makers and the Censor Board In fact so confident were the makers of two other films Shorgul and Junooniyat about Udta Punjab missing its June 17 target and releasing on June 24 instead that they advanced their own release date by a week Wonder if they are regretting or reconsidering their decisionBollywood reactsDibakar Banerjee filmmakerIts a welcome judgment I congratulate the producers and the director for their perseverance But imagine if every producer has to go to court to receive a very basic constitutional right Doesnt this indicate how obsolete politically motivated and absolutely nonproductive the CBFC has become today And dont the audience have anything to say in the matter Those who consume films should get to know what nightmares we have to go through to bring cinema to them All Indian filmgoing citizens need to decide whether they want a group of political sycophants to dictate what they can seeSudhir Mishra filmmakerI am happy that the High Court has upheld creative freedom The CBFC or a few members of the board had created a sense of fear but such a decision will give filmmakers the confidence to make the kind of films they want This verdict means that you can have different opinions but cannot stop someone from expressing their viewsAnees Bazmee filmmakerFirst of all this is a victory against a tyrant The law of the land is supreme This judgment is a slap on the face of the Censor Board I sincerely believe that instead of going to the censors we should go to the courts for certification The courts will also take care of other political organisations which for their own vote politics create ruckus at theatresGauri Shinde filmmakerIts a superb verdict and gives us creative people immense faith in the judiciary And hope this film or any other film doesnt suffer any more losses or traumaAmar Butala COO Salman Khan ProductionsThe verdict is an incredibly positive one It has confirmed the role of the CBFC mdash they are a certification board and not a censor board Film producers and directors are mature enough not to misuse creative freedom and it would be very myopic for us to abuse it for shortterm gains From what I understand there is one cut which the makers have willingly accepted So from 85plus cuts which were originally asked for we are down to one This really is a victory Ekta Kapoor as the producer took a hard stand and her belief has paid off The process for getting a censor had become unusually long and cumbersome and this verdict is one in the right directionNeeraj Ghaywan directorI think the Court has contradicted its own statement in which it asked CBFC to not censor but certify films by issuing a few cuts It is disappointing to get these few cuts after so many wins The CBFC will use these cuts to their advantage from the next time However I am happy for the makers since most of their Boards suggestions have been neglectedOnir directorThe CBFC had suggested too many cuts and the courts verdict has shamed them I am happy for the makers However I still dont understand how the court itself has justified a few cuts Also thankfully the studio had the budget to fight a legal case if an independent producer who has low budget for a film would have been stuck the scenario would have been different It is high time that we become sensible