Buzzing Blogosphere: Udta Punjab – Snipping Wings of Creativity

“We realize the importance of our voices only when we are silenced.” Years ago Malala’s quote pierced through the deadly silences that have found their way into India too. Assembly Elections in Punjab are just eight months away and the government, already under performance anxiety, has been stung by yet another catastrophe – the upcoming release of Udta Punjab. While the Bombay High Court has ordered the CBFC to issue it a fresh certificate with just one cut, the controversy has opened a can of worms for CBFC Chief Pahlaj Nihalani and put him on the target list of most of the film industry, which feels that freedom of expression is being threatened in the country. You will get to enjoy the movie on 17th June at a theatre near you, but before that, take a look at what bloggers feel about the censorship vs certification debate.

While the deteriorating condition of Punjab’s youth reflected in the deathly stats was never under the wraps, the attention that Udta Punjab got became a nightmare for those behind the drug menace in the state. We were still in the hangover of the overblown Tanmay Snapchat controversy, questioning our very freedom to express when the news of the CBFC demanding 89 cuts to the movie so as not to corrupt the average movie goer. There was also a demand for ‘Punjab’ to be removed from the title as it allegedly maligns the state. The frequency of intolerance against anything that goes against the accepted idea of India is hurting the idea of freedom of expression. Here’s Shashikant talking on the infringement of this basic right, thanks to our very governing system.

“The film ‘Udta Punjab’ was also previewed by the officials of certain intelligence agencies as also some politicians belonging to the parties whose electoral prospects might get hampered in Punjab elections scheduled for early 2017, in case the movie is released at this juncture. They all unanimously decided that the movie will indeed harm the ruling alliance in Punjab. The ministry then decided to ‘ban’ the movie on the ground that it might influence the mindset of modern youth who want to be in a perpetual high. Adverse political and social reaction to the proposed ‘ban’, then led to a way out in the form of innumerable cuts. It is a sad commentary not only on the working of I &B Ministry but on the political climate of ‘intolerance’ which has been pervading the country. Freedom of expression and speech can not be curbed in an authoritarian way. People are mature enough to decide for themselves. Admittedly, the movie might be an exaggeration and dramatization, but then that is what the celluloid is all about. Are government sponsored documentaries and visuals not absolutely unrealistic and absurd? ”

The CBFC, meant to certify art and media so that masses can have the freedom of watching just the right things, has taken a completely different route. Marring the very definition of free opinion, our country faces the real danger of losing its essence as a democratic nation. A Hindustan where political rulers decide what the public watches and accepts the need to censor content that offends a political narrative cannot call itself a free nation. While we pride ourselves on being an independent nation, incidents like these place us in the pitch dark reign of silencers and autocrats. Robert Parker put it aptly,

“The Benegal committee also calls for a clear definition of the governing board’s duties, i.e. a call for it to be a mere guiding body and defining the broad rules and not be involved in the day-to-day certification of films. As it stands now, the Nihalani led board finds itself in the dubious position of not only defining the rules, but also time and again finds itself implementing these rules, and also interfering in the appellate process if the producers are not happy with the final results. This is a ridiculous setup which does not result in adequate checks and balances and leads only to an acrimonious relationship with the content providers. The Benegal committee recommendation fixes these flaws within the system and substantially clips the wings of Pahlaj Nihalani who is the biggest villain of the piece as it stands now.”

Censorship, framed to control media under the garb of the colonial mindset of avoiding any sort of religious, social or communal discord, reeks of the highly polarized state of affairs. It is sad to see how the babulogs of our time always go an extra mile in muzzling brutal truths and engage themselves in continuous stalking of anything honest that relays through the media. While many films have come and gone out of the scrutinizing eyes of the censor board, Udta Punjab has been hit hard by the former under the leadership of Pahlaj Nihalani. Humra Quraishi writes an open letter to the head of the board speaking about the the intolerance and hypocrisy plaguing the country.

“Why doesn’t the present day government want us to see these disasters? Will it raise fingers at some prominent political figures who could be directly or indirectly involved in the trafficking? Will this issue be played up in the coming elections? Will it expose men who are manning the State? Will it highlight that basic fact that without political support this disaster couldn’t have reached these uncontrollable levels? Will it expose nexus links, far and wide, even across the border? Will it also dent the development theories getting fed to the masses? In fact, this latest round of controversy has brought to the fore a seemingly apparent nexus between some of the Censor men in the Central Board Of Film Certification (CBFC) and the political men who rule from their air-conditioned dens. They seem hand-in-glove. Political strategies and tactics in full force for blatant realities to be diluted.”

The state of Punjab has finally come into the limelight with the impending release of Udta Punjab, a movie on Punjab where thousands of young wings are clipped by incessant drug abuse. The bylanes and streets of the otherwise rich state are full of young lives sneaking the addictive whiffs of ‘Chitta‘. The downfall of the youth of the state is not an issue to be shushed or buried under a ‘sab changa hai‘ attitude.  Here are some numbers speaking out loud about the gravity of the situation,via Venkatesh’s post.

“The word Udta must be replaced with the word ‘Doobta’; as ‘Doobta Punjab’ sounds realistic. You have alleged that the movie aims to defame Punjab but isn’t a state grieved and defamed when 2.3 lakhs of its population are addicted to drugs? Drug addiction in Punjab is four times than the world average. Pehlaj Ji, when I searched you on Wikipedia, it stated that you consider Narendra Modi as your hero. When our Prime Minister himself believes that art can’t have any restriction or limit, how can you defy the words of your hero?contemporary global cinemas around the world has evolved. Nudity, sex, drugs and violence in cinemas is no more a taboo. Schindler’s List (1993) has all of these and is still considered one of the greatest films ever. A movie can have all these and still be great and enjoyable. The Indian youth understands this and is ready to enjoy a new movement of realistic films. The huge popularity of shows like Game of Thrones, AIB and BB Ki Vines among the youth clearly indicates this trend. Keep your illusionary culture with yourself. We are fed up of this.”

In the social hullabaloo, what has emerged as the most embarrassing demand is the exclusion of ‘Punjab’ from the title of the movie. Very soon the news feed and walls were filled with an uproar of strong sarcastic comments. Next came a dark picture of how India, easily termed as democratic, hides behind constitutional laws, while the ground reality exposes the close mindedness of the powers that be. A country devoid of free thoughts, filled with people ready to double check everything that is said, can never taste the elixir of free will. Shubhra Gupta, further adds in her blog post on Indian Express,

“The completely needless`tamasha’ over Udta Punjab is a telling comment on several things. It tells us just how hard it is for people in positions of power to relinquish their desire to control everything. It tells us just how hypocritical we are that on the one hand we castigate Bollywood for making cinema that is not in sync with the times, and when it does attempt it, we turn our back on it. It tells us that sanctimony is still the preserve of those whom we vote for and who use our tax money to decide on our behalf, without any consultative processes, what is appropriate viewing. This is nothing but making sure that both the filmmaking community and us, the viewers, remain infantilized.”

The tiff within the united Bollywood and Censor Board has ignited a war that surpasses every boundary – political, social, legal and financial. It is a war not just for the liberty to create art based on free thought, but also against the loss of diversity and freedom that we seem to be experiencing. Can a film change the election results or influence the decision of the public? The political intervention in the process exposed the personal intent of the political parties of diverting attention from the drug problems that Punjab has been facing for many years. It is inevitable that if this truth comes out, it can dent the development theories fed to the masses for years. Under such fear of losing the game, how can the parties welcome their own nemesis, asks Dr. Kalyan.

“Can you tell a story about drug abuse without showing what exactly is drug abuse, and where it happens? That is just not possible. It will not only kill the expression, but also the message that underlies it.
If the solution is generalizing, and removing references, then we might want to limit permissible creative expression to philosophical discourse. Facts can sometimes hurt people, and it may be better to leave them behind. But, is this such an instance? How different is expression of the problem of drug abuse as a literary work different from its expression as a film? Would the fact that the impact is higher, to a larger audience, and much more effective, make it untenable?”

While the minds behind the movie have a firm stand on their plea of people having the right to decide what they want to watch, the certification board wants to go exceed its brief of certification and become the audience’s ‘grandma’, as the Bombay High Court pointed out. Banning a movie cannot undo the loss of fathers and sons under the demonic hold of drugs, openly catalyzed by drug mafia in the state. For the sake of the coming generation, that still will never completely recover from the drug epidemic, facts through such a movie need to come out and end the manslaughter going on silently for years. Nalin Mehta added in some more stats,

“By this logic, ‘India’ would have to be taken out of ‘Mother India’ too – that 1950s classic film after all showed poverty, patriarchy, and a feudal structure – all of which, it can be argued in this vein, ostensibly showed India in a bad light.The Punjab government itself in 2010-11 acknowledged that “some 73.5% of the state’s youth between 16 and 35 years are confirmed drug addicts”. The state disaster management plan for 2010-11 cites “drug addiction” under the “hazard” category and describes the menace as “grievous”. The plan also quotes Raj Pal Meena, the then head of the state’s Anti-Narcotics Task Force (ANTF) saying, “Punjab is teetering on the edge of an extraordinary human crisis, with an inordinately large number of youngsters hooked on to marijuana, opium and heroin, in addition to imbibing a range of prescriptive tablets.”

The Bollywood fraternity has been undergoing a plethora of changes in the previous years. We have finally accepted the S word to be easily mentioned, kissing has finally become a normal thing on screen and we are now more open to raising issues that were earlier talked of with silent eye contact. Yet, the double standards of the film industry keep us in constant deliberation, exploding only when it favours them the most. Why should there be censorship at all? Isn’t it the choice of people that matters? The public should be the judgement panel, not a bunch of film critics and politicians, looking for instances to keep snipping with their age old scissors, writes Yuga Parivarthana.

“But this double standard has been nothing new and only now the leftist cabal is getting a taste of its own medicine. The last censor board chief, Leela Samson, passed anti-Hindu movie PK without any cuts but tried all she can to block MSG by Gurmeet Singh, who played a Godman, something which is utterly blasphemous for the corpse worshipping Abrahamic faith i.e. Christianity. Samon’s Christian bias was completely at display during her entire tenure as censor board chief.The entire leftist cabal tried to shut down the debate on Buddha in a Traffic Jam by Vivek Agnihotri, which exposes hypocrisy of left. There were protests and violent attempts to shut down the screening of this movie in different universities but the entire Bollywood cabal kept mum on the whole episode but have now openly come out to defend Anurag Kashyap. This selective outrage only exposes their hypocrisy.”

The constant bullying of filmmakers by the censor board puts a question mark on the dirty politics prevailing in our country. We are in a political terrain where parties keep interfering in art and openly fiddle with information that needs to be broadcasted. The Udta Punjab controversy became a filthy blame game with allegations that Anurag Kashyap collaborated with AAP to defame the already blacklisted state of Punjab just in time for elections. While the inside stories remain hidden, nobody can deny that the film fraternity is being used as a puppet in political games. Bollywood Bubble posts,

“We are living in strange times, especially as far as our cinema is concerned. The way the Censor Board is bullying our filmmakers, it is totally insane and unfair. What started off as a difference of opinion between filmmaker Anurag Kashyap and Censor Board chief Pahlaj Nihalani, it has now turned into an ugly battle of egos, and many big names have chosen their sides. In his utter stupidity, Nihalani has linked this freedom of expression debate to dirty politics. It seems like he is no mood to let this Balaji Motion Pictures and Phantom co-production to see the light of the day.”

While the fight of politics is unpredictable, we look forward to Udta Punjab this Friday after winning its fight with just 1 cut. What would be interesting to see is how far does the movie, very much a metaphor to freedom of expression in the past few days, take its claim of honestly depicting the drug cult in Punjab. Perhaps, visual is the biggest medium to influence and Punjab needs to fight back its reputation for its entry into a drug free world. As we sing along the jingle ‘Mera Desh Badal Raha hai every morning as proud Indians, it is the need of the hour to digest the blatant truth and keep egos aside to embark on the road to progress.