Was disappointed with fake news of 400 cuts: Prasoon Joshi on ‘Padmaavat’

NEW DELHI:CBFC chief Prasoon Joshi today said he was “disappointed” by the fake news of the censor board clearing Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s controversial film “Padmaavat” with 400 cuts.

Joshi, who replaced Pahlaj Nihalani as the chief of Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) last year, agreed that there are always chances of “politicisation”, but as a constitutional body, the censor board needs to consider the concerns of any section of the society.

“I feel there could be politicisation of things. I do not deny as I could see that. We need to decipher. We need to see if there is a concern for any community. We have been hearing metaphors like ‘Rajput pride’. A subconscious of the society is respected and out of the subconscious, if certain concerns rise we need to look at them.

“In case of ‘Padmaavat’, we looked at the film and understood it as humanly possible. And as I always say, an artiste do not create anything to hurt anyone. Artistes are very sensitive. There aim is to go to people and understand them. And we took a call considering that,” he said.

Prasoon was speaking at a session at the News18 Rising India Summit, where he was joined by Information and Broadcasting minister Smriti Irani.

“Padmaavat”, featuring Deepika Padukone, Shahid Kapoor and Ranveer Singh, was cleared by CBFC in January this year. The board gave a U/A certificate to the film, without any cuts but suggested five modifications.

The board was criticised for removing “i” from the original title “Padmavati” and changing it to “Padmaavat”, but Prasoon said the decision was taken in agreement with the makers of the film, which is based on Malik Muhammad Jayasi’s poem of the same name. (AGENCIES)