Pakistan Pulls a Pahlaj on ‘Udta Punjab’ with a 100 Cuts & Beeps!

Pakistan CBFC comes down hard on Abhishey Chaubey’s Udta Punjab, prescribing 100 cuts! (Photo: Yogen Shah)

Udta Punjab might have won the censorship battle here in India, but the film has been severely cut and beeped for its Pakistan release. If you thought Pahlaj Nihalani’s 89 cuts were bad, Pakistan just aced that with 100!

Mubashir Hasan, the CBFC Chairperson across the border reportedly said that the film has been granted an ‘A’ certificate with the omission of all foul language and a few scenes being cut.

All the foul language, including swearing at and derogatory words, remarks have been muted along with certain excisions of scenes. The movie has been granted ‘A’ rating by the Full Board of CBFC (Central Board of Film Censors).

Mubashir Hasan, Chairperson CBFC Pakistan

References to Pakistan have also been cut out.

We have cut all derogatory and offensive words/dialogues and anti-Pakistan content from the film. More than 100 cuts, mutes, beeps have been suggested to the film’s distributor. Once he will complete the editing as per the requirement of the board, it will again be presented before it for final approval

Mubashir Hasan (as reported by PTI Lahore)

Reports also suggest that approximately 8 minutes of the film have been chopped off. The Sindh Board of Film Certification is yet to grant a release certificate to the film. Fakhr-e-Alam, the chairperson of this independent body told Pakistani media that the film will be certified only after the local distributer makes the necessary cuts.

We have asked a local distributor and importer to mute all abusive language as that is a direct violation of the existing censor code, and a few cuts. The film will be certified soon and hopefully released soon.

Fakhr-e-Alam, Chairperson Sindh Censor Board, Pakistan

The daring film about rampant drug abuse in the state of Punjab, with its unapologetic use of abusive language, was trashed by the Indian censor board despite being given an ‘A’ certificate, and was prescribed 89 cuts along with deleting all references to the state.

Earlier, the board had declined to pass Udta Punjab for screening in Pakistan altogether, citing objectionable content. But Hasan later decided to give it conditional approval, while ensuring that religious and national sentiments are safeguarded.

We had not banned this movie. On the appeal of the distributor the full board sat together today and gave conditional approval for its screening here. We have asked the distributor to delete scenes which even slightly refer to Pakistan and words like ‘786’ (which refers to Bismillah) and words ‘Maryam’

Mubashir Hasan (as reported by PTI Lahore)

Back in India, Anurag Kashyap, the producer of Abhishek Chaubey’s Udta Punjab fought hard to save his film from mindless censorship. He moved the Bombay High Court and eventually walked away victorious by reaching an agreement to screen the film with just one cut and revised disclaimers.

The Shahid Kapoor-Alia Bhatt-Kareena Kapoor and Diljit Dosanjh starrer has rocked the Indian box office with a collection of Rs 33 Crore on its opening weekend itself. But with Pakistan’s CBFC coming down hard on it, will Udta Punjab manage to fly high across the border? Let’s wait and watch. The film’s censored version is likely to hit theatres in Pakistan over the weekend after being edited in Dubai and being sent to the CBFC for a final approval.

(With inputs from PTI Lahore and IANS Karachi)