In a sudden move, the Information and Broadcasting Ministry replaced Nihalani with award winning lyricist Prasoon Joshi
The government replaced Pahlaj Nihalani with songwriter-poet Prasoon Joshi as the censor board chief on Friday. Joshi was appointed with immediate effect for a period of three years or until further orders, the Information and Broadcasting Ministry said in a release.
Reacting to the news, former CBFC chief Nihalani said he had been preparing for the exit for months.
"Actually, from the time I came in, there have been elements working against me, some of them from within the CBFC. These elements — I am not going to name them on-record — are currently celebrating premature Diwali," told Quint.
Recently, Nihalani was in news related to the multiple cuts in Madhur Bhandarkar's Indu Sarkar and refusal to certify Lipstick Under My Burqa.
Another controversy erupted when the CBFC objected to the word "intercourse" in the Shah Rukh Khan film When Harry Met Sejal. Besides, the decision to beep words like "cow" and "Hindu India" in a documentary on Nobel Laureate Amartya Sen also attracted criticism.
But Nihalani has no regrets. The report quotes him as saying, "None at all. Believe me, I was brought in as the CBFC chairperson all a sudden. I happily took up the job that the government thought me fit for. Now when the government has asked me to step down, I do so without any regret. It was a big challenge while it lasted. When I came in there was rampant corruption in the CBFC. I got rid of all the middlemen and touts who made money in the censor certification process. They too must be celebrating Diwali in advance this year."
The 'Sanskaari' censor chief is proud of his label and doesn't regret offending progressive elements of society.
He refrained from commenting directly on new CBFC chief Prasoon Joshi, but extended word of advice, "Whoever takes over from me is welcome to do. I only hope he doesn’t reverse the work that I started at the CBFC. I feel we have achieved a lot in the past three years. We’ve speedened up the certification process and made it entirely digital. I just hope my successor doesn’t succumb to false notions of liberalism propagated by the pseudo-progressive elements in our film industry and work in a direction opposed to mine. Do I have any regrets? None at all. I worked in all sincerity and with utmost honesty."
Nihalani intends to go back to film production and will soon announce a slew of films.
(With PTI inputs)
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 "Pahlaj Nihalani, Prasoon Joshi, Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC), Web Exclusive")
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