Censor Board cuts Prakash Jha’s dig at the Prime Minister

safia@coastaldigest.com (Subhash K Jha)
October 1, 2012

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Trust Prakash Jha's cinema to constantly raise provocative political issues and instigate the censor board into ordering substantial cuts. We've come to know from very reliable sources that Prakash's Chakravyuh has been ordered six cuts, most of them verbal.

The film has been passed with a 'UA' certificate,which means underage viewers can watch the film accompanied by an adult.

Informs our source from the Censor Board of Film Certification (CBFC), "There were direct references to politicians, political scandals and a specially pointed reference to 'Sardari' (meaning leadership as well as a reference to the Sikh community whose individuals are known as Sardars) which we thought was a direct hit at the Prime Minister. Those had to go."

One sentence that has been removed from the film refers to the Mahatama. Says our source, "A character says, 'Majboori ka naam Mahatma Gandhi'. Now this may be a commonly used phrase of despair in everyday life. But we can't have Mahatma Gandhi equated with majboori (helplessness) on a medium as powerful as cinema. So we asked the phrase to be removed."

Elsewhere a character is accused of getting his job through 'quota' (reservation) and hence inept at his work. That has been cut. Also cut by the censors is a reference to the allegedly underhand activities of a fictional 'Mahanta' group of industries based in London.

Says our source at the CBFC, "From the pointers and references including the London location it was clear that the 'Mahanta' group referred to the Vedanta group of industries. We had to ask for that to be cut. That apart we asked a couple of abuses to be deleted. Then there was a scene of visual violence where a man's ear is chopped off and displayed on screen. We've asked the ear to be blurred on screen."

But it's the 'Mehngaai' song in Chakravyuh that has raised the censorboard's hackle the most. While the disclaimer for the number has gotten it past the censorboard, it was the deletion of one line making a barbed and unmistakable reference to a 'Sardar' that actually got the song past censors.

Says our censorial source, "The song sneered, 'Bahut dekhi teri sardari.' That, we felt was a direct hint at the Prime Minister. It had to go. Our guidelines clearly state dialogue or scene cannot caste aspersions on individuals, least of all the person holding the highest political post."

Referring to Prakash Jha's defence about using the 'Tata, Birla' names as metaphors in the song the source from the CBFC says, "Metaphors are a wonderful tool for expression . But they can't be used on a public platform in a negative way. Years ago Manoj Kumar's Roti Kapada Aur Makaan had a beautiful 'Mehngaai' song. It didn't have to name any politician or cast aspersions on any individual to prove how inflation has hit the common man."

J.P. Singh, the CBFC's Regional Officer Mumbai, confirmed the above cuts.



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Agencies
February 5,2020

Chennai, Feb 5: Income Tax sleuths on Wednesday raided top Tamil film actor Vijay's residence here besides conducting simultaneous searches at several premises linked to a film production house, movie financier and distributors in connection with suspected tax evasion.

The searches, which began in as many as 38 locations in Tamil Nadu, were still on and unaccounted cash of about Rs 25 crore was seized from the premises of a Tamil film financier who had faced allegations of intimidation and arm-twisting to recover money, official sources told PTI.

Also, several documents indicating substantial tax evasion has been seized, sources added.

Vijay, who was away in Cuddalore district for a film shoot, was apprised by authorities about the searches and he was en route to his residence here, they said.

So far nothing has been recovered from the actor's house and the inmates were cooperating with authorities in conducting the searches, sources said.

Raids were also on in the premises of the production house that had made Vijay's hugely successful recent Tamil movie 'Bigil.'

Further details are expected after completion of searches which is likely to continue tomorrow.

The State police has been providing security for carrying out the searches.

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News Network
February 24,2020

New Delhi, Feb 24: Indian Idol 11 winner is Bhatinda's Sunny Hindustani. Sunny, who mostly sang Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan's songs on the show, won the coveted trophy. The Bhatinda boy took home the Indian Idol 11 trophy along with the prize money of Rs 25 lakh, a car and a singing contract with T-Series.

Sunny's entry on the show was much-talked-about. His soul-soothing voice had mesmerised the judges on the audition day itself as he sang Afreen Afreen. He got a standing ovation and former Indian Idol 11 judge Anu Malik even said that he felt as if Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan himself was performing on the Indian Idol stage. His audition video had gone viral after Anand Mahindra shared it on social media.

On the finale night, Sunny sang a medley of songs, which included Mere Rashke Qamar and Halka Halka Suroor. Ayushmann got emotional seeing Sunny's journey on screen. He said, "Hum na actor bade self-obsessed hote hain. Humein lagta hai hamari struggle sabse achchi hai, sabse badi hai. Inke saamne toh kuch hai he nahi. Jahaan se aye hai, jitna hunar inke paas hai...mujhe lagta hai inki maa sabse ameer hain."

The first and second runner-up of the show Rohit Raut and Ankona Mukherjee got Rs 5 lakh each, while Ridham Kalyan and Adriz Ghosh who were fourth and fifth on the show, took Rs 3 lakh home. Every finalist also received Rs 1 lakh cheque from Lotus Herbals and gift hampers from the sponsors.

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Agencies
June 26,2020

Los Angeles, Jun 26: Warner Bros has moved its Christopher Nolan-directed espionage thriller Tenet from July 31 to August 12.

It's the second delay for the highly-anticipated movie, which was originally scheduled to release on July 17 but was postponed to July 31 due to coronavirus pandemic.

Warner Bros. is committed to bringing Tenet' to audiences in theaters, on the big screen, when exhibitors are ready and public health officials say it's time. In this moment what we need to be is flexible, and we are not treating this as a traditional movie release.

We are choosing to open the movie mid-week to allow audiences to discover the film in their own time, and we plan to play longer, over an extended play period far beyond the norm, to develop a very different yet successful release strategy, a Warner Bros spokesperson said in a statement to Deadline.

The studio has also delayed the US re-release of Nolan's sci-fi blockbuster Inception, in honour of the film's 10th anniversary, to July 31.

Tenet features John David Washington, Robert Pattinson, Elizabeth Debicki, Kenneth Branagh, Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Michael Caine, Clemence Poesy, Dimple Kapadia and Himesh Patel.

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