Welcoming the verdict by the Bombay High Court to clear the controversial film Udta Punjab, veteran filmmaker Shyam Benegal said the judgement was a very mature and intelligent one, adding that he hoped it brought a change in the attitude of the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC).
Speaking to ANI, Benegal said that the High Court through its verdict, brought to everybody to realise the true purpose of what the CBFC should be doing, which is to act as a certification body and not a censoring body.
“The most important thing very few people realise is that the people who applied for the censor certificate, which are the filmmakers themselves, had asked for an adult certificate anyway. They had not asked for a Universal certificate or a UA certificate,” he said.
“There was no reason for the CBFC to go through that exercise. Eventually the High Court took cognizance of the fact that this is an adult film, it deals with a very important problem and took the right judgement,” Benegal added.
Following the verdict, a visibly relieved Abhishek Chaubey, who is the director of this film, lauded the courage and hard work by the lawyers and producers and said that his team would now fight for the release on its scheduled date on June 17.
