|
MUMBAI:
The Censor Board of Film Certification (CBFC) has cleared
Dibakar Banerjee's upcoming film Shanghai with a U/A
certificate. However, the Board has effected one major
cut: a scene where a local politician is shown being
abused.
Earlier
this week, the Mumbai unit of the Congress party had
called for a ban on the song Bharat Mata Ki Jai saying
that it hurts patriotic sentiments and degrades India.
In a letter addressed to union Minister for Information
& Broadcasting Ambika Soni, Mumbai Congress vice-president
Charan Singh Sapra has contended that the content of
the entire song is an insult to all countrymen who respect
India as their motherland.
The
song in mention contains controversial words like Sarkari
Hathiyaar, Dhandha, Chanda, Dengue, Malaria, Gobar (cowdung),
that Sapra alleged are deliberately used to defame the
country.
Sapra
had sought an immediate and total ban on the song
from being broadcast/telecast in any manner, deleting
it from the movie and to fix accountability and initiate
action against the concerned censor board officials
who cleared the offensive number.
In
another development, the Delhi High Court dismissed
a plea seeking stay on the release of the film by
Tejinder Pal Singh Bagga, president of Bhagat Singh
Kranti Sena who, through a PIL, had sought an interim
stay on release of 'Shanghai' until its song 'Bharat
Mata Ki Jai' was deleted.
A
division bench of Justice Vipin Sanghi and Justice
Rajiv Shakdher remarked, "We do not find anything
objectionable in the said song. In a democracy, every
person has a right to voice his views and opinions...
the same right to speech and expression cannot be
curtailed except under some circumstances."
"The
author of the song has merely sought to portray the
existing state of affairs in India, once considered
a golden bird... is now infested with diseases like
dengue and malaria," the bench observed.
Based
on the novel by Vassilis Vassilikos, Shanghai is a
political thriller directed by D. Banerjee and stars
Emraan Hashmi and Abhay Deol. The film is slated for
release on 8 June.
| 
