Irrfan Khan: The whole country has become a censor board

Actor Irrfan Khan says he is surprised that when a film addresses a crucial issue that has been present for several years, it suddenly becomes a “big issue” and that the whole country has become a censor board as anyone can make an issue out of anything.

“At every moment there are numerous issues. That never reaches us. It’s a strange fact that since several years some magazines who have the integrity have written about a state and reported about the severity of the crisis, and ten years later when a film is made on it based on that state, suddenly it becomes such a big issue.”

“My problem is with the fact that we don’t even know if it is a censor board or a certificate board. It’s a certificate board; it’s not a censor board… The whole country has become a censor board in such a way that if some issue is raised someone makes an issue out of it,” Irrfan said at the launch of the song ‘Dama Dam’ from his film ‘Madaari’.

The controversy surrounding the film ‘Udta Punjab’ and its troubles with the censor board have dominated headlines in the past few days. The problem of drugs and the use of the name of the state of Punjab in relation to drugs have been some of the objections of the censor board.

Irrfan said, “These are all rules made by the British and the blame should not fall on any individual. You appoint someone and he/she goes according to the rulebook. And we are sleeping; the country is sleeping. We don’t feel the need to change anything.

“So we should take it a bit seriously. The industry should come forward. The industry pays Rs.4,000 crore in taxes, so the government should have some kind of gesture and appreciate those who pay taxes. We need to wake up and the government should also think about it. Mahesh Bhatt had stated that 40 years ago he had made some film which had got stuck. So we are just sleeping actually.”

Numerous filmmakers in a press conference had raised their voice against the working of the censor board.

Inputs from IANS

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Amod Pandit

Quiet, resonant, and creative, he can be seen immersed in his own world, and puts in his heart and soul into the one passion that he has, Bollywood. His line for survival? Feel happy to be a part of it.