CBFC member made sexist remark: Babumoshai Bandookbaaz maker
Producer of 'Babumoshai Bandookbaaz' Kiran Shroff, while talking about sexist comments she faced, has said that a Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) member asked her how she could make a film like this being a woman. A male member added, "But she is not a woman. Look at what she is wearing." Kiran said that such thoughts were regressive.
The CBFC (Central Board of Film Certification) seems to have forgotten that their job is to certify, not censor. The latest victim of their scissors is Nawazuddin Siddiqui-starrer Babumoshai Bandookbaaz. The Pahlaj Nihalani-led board ordered a whopping 48 cuts to the film, and when India Today Television reached out to him, he said, "We are just doing our job."But this is not the worst of it. Disparaging sexist comments were allegedly made by CBFC members about the producer, Kiran Shroff, for green-lighting a film with such 'abusive' content. According to a report in Bombay Times, a female member asked her how she, as a woman, could be involved in the making of a film with so many abuses. At this point, a male member is said to have interjected, "Inhone to pant-shirt pehni hai. Yeh aurat thodi hi hain."Kiran told the publication, "They had an internal discussion for an hour after the screening. First, they told us that they were giving us an A certificate. Then they told us that there are 48 cuts. We argued that if the film is for adults, then why have so many cuts. They didn't bother much, and continued to explain each cut and their logic behind it."She added, "In the middle of that, a lady officer turned to me and said, 'Aap aurat hokar aisi filmein kaise bana sakti hain'. And before I could speak up, a man in the committee said, 'But she is not a woman. Look at what she is wearing.' I was dumbfounded. This is such a regressive thought... Sadly, this is the kind of humiliation producers have to put up with. If they are judging me by my clothes, I can imagine the parameters they must have used to pass my film."Babumoshai Bandookbaaz has been directed to do away with abusive words as well as 80 per cent of its "humping" scenes. Director Kushan Nandy was appalled and told the daily, "First and foremost, we don't have humping scenes. They are love-making scenes. I am shocked and appalled with what has happened. If you notice the cuts, there's a sentence, 'Yeh kaahe ka c******a hai'. We use such sentences in our everyday life. The excuse given to us is that children also sneak into cinema halls to watch adult films. How is that my problem? Penalise the cinema halls for this, not the producers. The way they have dealt with our film is insulting. They humiliated Kiran which is unpardonable."Apparently, the filmmaker has been asked to get rid of a bunch of sentences with the word "khada" in it. He met Pahlaj Nihalani in private to discuss the directives, but the CBFC chief had a shocking response - "You are lucky I'm not banning your film."Kushan said, "When I argued that there are no grounds to do that, he retorted, 'What are these abuses? Do you plan to make a dictionary of bad words?' He even asked me to change lines like 'Maa ka lehenga' to 'Maa ka anchal'. In short, the essence of what is being said is lost. He told me, 'C*****a ko tutiya kar do.' He is basically trying to teach us to make a film. And finally, he told me to remove the line that has 'Khada' in it. He said, 'I will never let it pass because I am abused for my song Khada Hai Khada Hai to this day.' I'll fight this till the end."Pahlaj Nihalani refused to comment on the matter.At a media interaction today, Kiran Shroff shared all that the CBFC members told her. One CBFC board member asked Kiran Shroff(producer) 'Why as a woman have you made this film?: Kushan Nandy,director #BabumoshaiBandookbaazThen another CBFC board member said 'ye to pant shirt pehne huye hain woman thodi hain': Kushan Nandy,director #BabumoshaiBandookbaazThey(CBFC) told us that we have given 48 cuts in the film: Kiran Shroff,Producer #BabumoshaiBandookbaazpic.twitter.com/NbFBDWZHSpThen Pahlaj Nihalani came and told me that I am lucky that my film is not banned: Kushan Nandy,Director #BabumoshaiBandookbaazpic.twitter.com/RHBxREjM4f