Anurag Kashyap lambasts censor board, says they stalled his career for 7 years
Anurag Kashyap
Filmmaker Anurag Kashyap, who is regarded as the face of emerging new wave cinema in India, criticised the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) and blamed the censorship guidelines for stalling his career for seven years.
Kashyap, who is a guest at the ongoing Indian Film Festival of Melbourne this year, said, “I had a career unreleased for seven years because of censorship,” while he was on air on the ABC Melbourne radio channel.
The 43-year-old director-producer said that the release of his first film ‘Paanch’ was blocked for showcasing drug issues and violence against police officer. Although it was passed by the board later, it left his producer bankrupt.
“I was asked to remove the scenes,” said Kashyap, who was recently at loggerheads with the board over the release of his co-production ‘Udta Punjab’.
Kashyap, who will deliver a masterclass on Censorship to students and cinema lovers in Melbourne as a part of the Indian fest, said he found the board redundant as people have access to such movies online.
“To say that the censor board does not want my daughter to watch my movies, my daughter has seen all my movies by downloading them. We were actually progressing but in the last two years we have gone back. The censorship that has come now it is far worse,” he added.
The ‘Gangs of Wasseypur’ director was also involved in a public spat with the CBFC chief Pahlaj Nihalani, calling him ‘intellectually incapable of the position he holds’.
Apart from working behind the scenes, Kashyap has also made a few cameo appearances in films. In his next, AR Murugadoss’ Akira, he play the role of an antagonist.
