Censor chief says ban on cuss words not withdrawn

Pahlaj Nihalani refutes reports that his infamous list of 28 banned cuss words have been withdrawn. For the record, the Censor chief has in no unclear terms, said that the list stays put. A meeting of the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) last Friday, according to reports, had a majority of the Board members voting against the list. 

Nihalani calls these claims irresponsible and damaging. “First of all, the proceedings of the Board meeting were highly confidential and not meant to be given out to the public. Censor Board members are giving out wrong information to the press.”

He reiterates, “There was no question of banning the banned words. It is not up to the Board members to make policy decisions. They can only discuss change. They cannot decide or implement changes.”

Livid about the leak of supposedly wrong information, Nihalani says, “Certain board members have friends in the filmmaking fraternity who they have promised to allow cuss words in their forthcoming films which have already been certified with the abusive words cleaned out.”

He concludes, “The guidelines (prescribed by the Information & Broadcasting Ministry) are very clear on the issue of verbal censorship. “The guidelines are not for the Censor Board to change. I don’t have the power to change it. Neither do my Board members. The sooner they stop creating the impression of being reformists, the better for all of us.”