Mukesh Bhatt slams new Censor chief Prasoon Joshi; advices him to be progressive

15 Sep 2017

Pahlaj Nihalani was removed from the post of Censor Board chairman on Friday August 11 which led to joy among the industry members. That Prasoon Joshi, considered to be progressive and sensible, was made the chairman added to the happiness. But a section of industry remained sceptical. The scepticism increased after a recent interview of Prasoon Joshi. In this interview, Prasoon Joshi said that he wont advocate for complete freedom of expression. He emphasized that hell look at the intent of the filmmaker behind the attention-grabbing content. If the content is there for a reason, then hell allow it and if its added for cheap publicity, then hell censor it. He also added that even the famous Michelangelo had to function as per the rules of the then society. This made it clear that adult films would still be censored. The demand of a lot filmmakers however has been that if a film is certified adult, then no cuts should be made. Producer Mukesh Bhatt, who has had several bad experiences with the Censor Board, slammed Prasoon Joshi for these remarks. He blamed him for talking in governments language and wondered what is about the chair of the Censor Board chief that changes people, even those from the film industry. He questioned Prasoon Joshi that on one hand, the adult is mature enough to vote a government to power but on the other hand, how can he claim that adult is not mature enough to watch an adult-themed film. Mukesh Bhatt also openly said that Prasoon Joshi got a chance to head the Censor Board because he worked on the election campaign of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. It remains to be seen if Prasoon Joshi turns out to be a sensible Censor chairman or does he continue with sanskaari ways of erstwhile chief Pahlaj Nihalani. Watch this space.