Pahlaj Nihalani on Aligarh: Is homosexuality a subject for kids, teens?

Hansal Mehta’s award-winning Aligarh has come under attack and the man firing all the shots in censor board chief Pahlaj Nihalani. After giving the film’s moving trailer an A certificate, he now calls Hansal’s criticism ‘cheap publicity gimmick’.

The man who cleared trailers of India’s first porn-com Kya Kool Hain Hum and Sunny Leone-starrer Mastizaade without any cuts, Pahlaj Nihalani, has taken umbrage at Hansal Mehta tackling a moving real-life story of a gay man fighting for his right to privacy, Aligarh.

Manoj Bajpayee plays a professor who loses his job because of his sexual orientation.

The censor board chief on Sunday alleged that director of the film Aligarh, Hansal Mehta is making an issue out of the A certificate given to the movie’s trailer just to garner publicity. Aligarh, starring Rajkummar Rao and Manoj Bajpayee, is based on the real life incident of professor Shrinivas Ramchandra Siras, who was fired from his job because of his alleged sexual orientation.

Read: Other films that faced the wrath of censor board

Mehta had criticised the censor board for the A certificate, saying he was “surprised” by the cuts they asked for in the film and termed the board “homophobic”. Nihalani, defending his decision, said the topic of homosexuality is not for kids and teenagers to watch.

Embattled censor board chief Pahlaj Nihalani has called Hansal Mehta’s response to Aligarh’s A certificate “a cheap publicity gimmick”.

“The certification we have given to the trailer is according to the content. If the makers feel it is not justified then let them take a public opinion on this... Tell me, is the subject of homosexuality for kids? For teenagers? We have already cleared the film and now they are creating a controversy. This is a cheap publicity stunt by him (Mehta),” Nihalani said.

Mehta had alleged that by giving the trailer an A certificate the censor board has “put a stop to the promotions” as the promo will now run only with an adult rated film. Nihalani said the censor board is not trying to sabotage Aligarh.

Read: NDAs censor board tangle

“The film (Aligarh) deals with homosexuality, we have given the trailer an A certificate and it will run with other adult films. We are not trying to sabotage the film at all. It is on the makers to accept it or not. If they want to go to the revising committee or tribunal they can go so by all means. In fact, we will be happy if they get the desired results from there,” he added.

Nihalani further said it is unfair to compare A certificate given to Aligarh with the promos of adult comedies Mastizaade and Kya Kool Hai Hum 3.

“The subject (of homosexuality) is such that I think he (Mehta) was scared... They are now creating a fuss over the trailer. Films cannot be compared with each other. You cannot say ‘That was passed so why not this’, everything has to be viewed in the context. It is absolutely unfair to do that,” he added.