Any hopes of Mastizaade being third time lucky have been dashed. After the Examining Committee (EC) and Revising Committee (RC) of the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC; Censor Board), now the Film Certification Appellate Tribunal (FCAT; the Tribunal) refused to certify the Sunny Leone-starrer.
The notification from the Tribunal (we have a copy) reads, “The film is only concerned with the exploration of the different parts of the human anatomy, both male and female and is such as to deprave the minds of the audience.”
Says a source from the Censor Board, “Mastizaade was denied certification by the EC, the RC and now the Tribunal. The producers have no choice now, but to go to the High Court for their film.” When contacted, producer Pritish Nandy just chose to remark, “No comment”.
The last time a film was denied certification at all three levels was 36 years ago when Raj Kumar Kohli’s Jaani Dushman was denied censor certification by all three branches of the Board. Kohli had to approach the courts for removal of the ban.