Udta Punjab ready for takeoff but leak keeps pot boiling

CHANDIGARH/NEW DELHI: A drug-themed film at the centre of a political controversy cleared all legal hurdles for its scheduled release on Friday but a “leaked” version

CHANDIGARH/NEW DELHI: A drug-themed film at the centre of a political controversy cleared all legal hurdles for its scheduled release on Friday but a “leaked” version of the movie appeared online in a fresh twist to the script.

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Bollywood showman Anurag Kashyap, the film’s co-producer at the forefront of a battle with the censor board, appealed to people not to watch the leaked version of Udta Punjab, a Shahid Kapoor-Alia Bhatt starrer showcasing the problem of drug abuse in the state.

Kashyap said he believed it was a case of vested interests “trying to demoralise” the filmmakers in their fight. The film’s producers had lodged a complaint with the cyber crime police in Bandra on Wednesday.

The entire film has been leaked on various torrent sites — which allow downloading from the internet — with “for censor” written on the top left corner of the copy.

“I am not sure whether it was a CBFC copy. But if it’s a censor copy then it’s a shame on CBFC, it reflects very badly on them. Piracy is an issue, which we all have been fighting for a very long time ,” superstar A am ir Khan said.

CBFC chief Pahlaj Nihalani — facing allegations of trying to stifle creative freedom — said “rumours” about the online leak should not be believed.

Earlier in the day, the Punjab and Haryana HC gave final clearance to the film and dismissed two petitions against it. The Supreme Court also refused to entertain the plea of an NGO seeking to stay release of the film that had earlier fallen foul of the censor board for allegedly portraying Punjab in a bad light and glorifying drug abuse. “Drug menace can be in any state and the film does not glorify drugs,” said Sanjay Kaushal, who represented the film’s producer Phantom Films in the high court.

The Bombay high court had earlier allowed release of the film with just one scene deleted as against nearly 90 “cuts” sought by the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC). The censor board’s suggestions had triggered a backlash against Nihalani whom many accuse of toeing the BJP-led government’s agenda while certifying films.

The Congress and A am Aadmi Party (AAP) accused Punjab’s ruling alliance of BJP and Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) of trying to influence the censor board’s decision to hide the state’s drug abuse problem that has allegedly crippled a generation.

Advocate Sujoy Kantawala, who watched the movie as the amicus curie of the Punjab and Haryana high court, also presented his report to the bench.

“I have clearly mentioned in my report which was read out in open court that there is absolutely nothing in the film which could lead any such sort of apprehensions which the petitioner entertained. The movie gives the social message that drugs are a menace. If you consume drugs you can lose your loved ones in future and it’s basically a thing you don’t want to do in life.”

The high court’s ruling came in response to a plea by Jalandhar-based advocate Wattan Sharma who said the film had done “negative branding” of Punjab and its people and was therefore unfit for exhibition.

Another petition was filed by the Punjab State Commission for Women chairperson Paramjit Kaur Landran alleging that the movie portrayed women in an “obscene manner”.

The apex court asked the NGO to approach the high court over the film’s release.

“We are not interfering in the matter. We are not going into the merit. Liberty granted to the petitioner to approach the Punjab and Haryana high court which is seized of the matter,” a vacation bench of justices Adarsh Kumar Goel and L Nageswara Rao said.