High Court Goes Against Censor Board & Allows Release Of Udta Punjab

The makers of upcoming film ‘Udta Punjab’, which revolves around drug abuse in Punjab and was involved in a battle with the Censor Board, can now finally heave a sigh of relief as the Bombay High Court has allowed the release of the film with just one cut.

From what we have heard, the Court just asked that the scene showing Shahid Kapoor urinating on the stage be deleted. A Division Bench of Justices SC Dharmadhikari and Shalini Phansalkar Joshi heard the plea filed by Udta Punjab's co-producer Phantom Films against the 13 cuts suggested by the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) in the movie. The judges also said that they don’t find anything in the film that shows Punjab in a bad light or affects the sovereignty or integrity of India as claimed by CBFC. Earlier, the High Court had told the CBFC that the multiplex audience is mature enough, adding that people should be allowed to see the film as everybody has a choice.

An elated Anurag Kashyap took to his Twitter page retweet a link to the news regarding the High Court decision and to write, “I believe!” The film, which is being jointly made by Phantom Films and Balaji Motion Pictures, will release on its scheduled date June 17.

Directed by Abhishek Chaubey, Shahid Kapoor, Kareena Kapoor Khan, Alia Bhatt and Diljit Dosanjh, ‘Udta Punjab’ was inspired by an investigative report in a magazine about rampant drug abuse in Punjab.