It’s like living in North Korea: Anurag Kashyap

Bollywood filmmaker Anurag Kashyap, whose co-production ‘Udta Punjab’ is facing trouble for being an "honest" tale about the festering problem of drugs, on Tuesday said the country's censor board chief is a "dictatorial man", who makes him experience what it is to live like in North Korea.

"I always wondered what it felt like to live in North Korea... Ab to plane pakadney ki bhi zaroorat nahin (Now I don't even need to catch a plane)," Kashyap tweeted, alluding to the dictatorial rule in North Korea.

‘Udta Punjab’, which Kashyap's Phantom Films has co-produced with Balaji Motion Pictures, is directed by Abhishek Chaubey. Starring an ensemble cast of actors like Shahid Kapoor, Alia Bhatt, Kareena Kapoor Khan and Diljit Dosanjh, the movie delves on how the youth of Punjab have succumbed to drugs.

However, the subject has reportedly not gone down too well with the ruling dispensation in the state. And what followed was what many are considering a politically motivated move by the censor board's Revising Committee to demand as many as 89 cuts and a complete removal of any reference to Punjab in the film.

Kashyap said Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) chief Pahlaj Nihalani operates "like an oligarch". Kashyap also said that his fight was not political. "Please don't colour my fight with any political affiliation because there is none," he said. "I request Congress, AAP and other political parties to stay out of my battle. It's my Rights vs the Censorship.

I speak only on my behalf. It's my fight Vs a dictatorial man sitting there operating like an oligarch in his constituency of censor board, that's my North Korea," he wrote. "Rest of you go pick your own fights. I will fight mine," added the maker. Earlier, Kashyap had defended ‘Udta Punjab’ by calling it "more honest" than any other movie.

"Any person or party opposing it is actually guilty of promoting drugs," Kashyap had tweeted. B-Town stands united Leading Bollywood filmmakers including Mahesh Bhatt and Karan Johar on Tuesday spoke out strongly against the censorship troubles that ‘Udta Punjab’ is going through.

Condemning how the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) has asked the makers to drop 'Punjab' from the film's name, Karan tweeted, "'Udta Punjab' speaks of the reality of our times... Censoring reality amounts to delusion. The fraternity has to stand by what's right."

A filmmaker with a strong opinion, Mahesh Bhatt said, "Censorship is the child of fear and the father of ignorance. Is Pahlaj Nihalani listening?" Filmmaker Hansal Mehta, known for hard-hitting films like ‘Shahid’, shared, "What is this I'm hearing about? Makes me very, very angry.

Delusion or collusion? Why is the establishment so scared of films that mirror reality? Can the truth defame a state? 'Udta Punjab' censored." Filmmaker Nikkhil Advani said, "I guess the next step will be to submit scripts for censorship. 'Udta Punjab' censored." Actress Soha Ali Khan commented, "Anyone who says that drugs are not a problem in Punjab, is either unaware, complicite or has mala fide intention."