Pahlaj Nihalani, 65, the filmmaker of some blockbuster movies of it’s times has finally attained the peak position of his own field.
On Monday, 19 January, Pahlaj Nihalani stepped in Leela Samson’s shoes along with his platoon that includes nine new members. He took the hold of the Chairmanship of Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC), four days after Leela Samson quitted.
Nihalani’s background on the film front includes his work as a producer of films such as ‘Shola Aur Shabnam’ and ‘Aankhen’ which were a sure shot hit at the box office. He has also been a former president of the Association of Motion Picture and Television Program Producers.
Weaving some feeble political strings, questions were shot out by several onlookers about the new censor board members having BJP link-ups. But the new CBFC chief, Nihalani, conceded without any mortification about him being a proud BJP person and idolized Modi as his “action hero”. Standing enough true to this statement, he has proved it to all of us last year by producing BJP`s campaign video which sloganized, “Har Har Modi, Ghar Ghar Modi” during last general elections. Nihalani even ensured that he will smoothly run the Board to avoid any such controversies further.
While focusing more on his BJP connections, Nihalani told NDTV on Tuesday,” I am proud to say I am a BJP person. I believe in BJP. Narendra Modi is the voice of the nation … He is my action hero. He is a visionary person.” Even the government safeguarded its decision of appointing the members by explaining that their main objective was to have a “mix of all”.
Nihalani promised that he will strictly follow the guidelines mentioned in the rule-book of CBFC. Telling more about this to Press Trust of India (PTI), he said,” In my long experience in the film industry, I have seen that only healthy films with strong social message are a hit with the audience. As the chairman of CBFC, I will try to strictly enforce the guidelines laid down for the board. I will also try to strike a balance between the industry and the board.”
Howbeit, Pahlaj turned over the game by pointing Samson at fault and to be the main creator of the MSG movie controversy followed by her resignation act. What his opinion about the whole controversial issue is that Leela Samson unnecessarily created the whole drama when her working tenure was about to come to an end and blamed government for the injustice done to her. Pahlaj reported, “All through her tenure she barely attended office and did not take any initiative to improve the working of the board.”
Clearing off the entire foggy buzz, Rajyavardhan Rathore, Minister of States for Information and Broadcasting said that,” The idea is to have a mix of all.” He says that they wanted experts from various fields to be the members of Board. “I agree one or two names are clearly associated with the party, but we have to select eminent people from different fields,” Rathore told NDTV. “They all have the common agenda of development,” Rathore said in support of the new Board who was against the predecessor one.
Critics say that at least half the members of the newly appointed Board are either a part of BJP party or its supporters.
Enlisting the Board members, even we can make out the BJP majority as it includes BJP’s spokesperson in Telangana, Jeevitha Rajashekar who is also an actress. SV Shekhar is another fresh member who left AIADMK only to join BJP in 2013. He is a famous actor and playwright. Ramesh Patange is associated with RSS (Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh) which is BJP`s mentor. Patange is also an editor of Marathi weekly. Film actor turned politician, Vani Tripathi Tikoo herself is the former national secretary of BJP.
After studying the whole list, we can infer that majority of members are linked with BJP in one way or another but at the same time possess the artistic skills which propels them to deserve the positions as Board members. All we can do is expect the new Censor Board to be flawless carry its functions smoothly abiding to the given rules. Let the members have any party origins, but they should serve the purpose of their respective positions dutifully.
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