While Udta Punjab gets critical applause and commercial success since its release following a month-long battle between the film’s producers and the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC), two other Hindi films are still fighting for censor board’s nod.
One is titled Haraamkhor, Shlok Sharma’s Directorial debut that has been produced by Guneet Monga, the other is Director Neeraj Pandey’s Saat Uchakkey that has Manoj Bajpayee in the lead role.
Haraamkhor has been reportedly refused certification for its theme — it tells the story of a relationship between a teacher and a student. Saat Uchakkey, however, has been held up for the use of cuss words. Bajpayee said the film is of humour genre where cuss words have been used to present the milieu of the characters.
“The film is set in Chandni Chowk in the early years of the post-liberalisation era. It tells the story of seven friends who are trying to get rich overnight. They are a bunch of local buffoons,” explains Bajpayee, adding that “censorship” needs to be replaced by “certification” at the earliest.
Interestingly, one of CBFC Chief Pahlaj Nihalani’s productions, Andaz, is based on the same theme. The makers of the two films have now approached Film Certification Appellate Tribunal and are hoping for a positive result. “We are glad that Saat Uchakkey does not have a release date yet, but we hope to release it as soon CBFC clears it,” said Bajpayee.
