Censor Board of Film Certification (CBFC) has embroiled itself in another controversy by censoring journalist Barkha Dutt’s name in the upcoming movie Noor. The film is about a young woman, played by Sonakshi Sinha, who is aspiring to be a reporter and hence a reference to Dutt’s name in the film. CBFC head, Pahlaj Nihlani has asked the makers of the film to either entirely remove the reference or beep the word ‘Dutt’ in the film.
The character of Sinha, Noor apparently idolises Dutt in the film. When Dutt came to know about this incident she took to twitter and tweeted, “Barkha without the Dutt dear Censor Board is kinda like poori minus channa. More seriously, how bizarre is this decision!!”
Am told my full name has been censored in film 'Noor' by the Board. huh? What? Why?! Should I be amused at the whimsical move or..?! https://t.co/MhkOPcbAfe
— barkha dutt (@BDUTT) April 14, 2017
Dear Censor Board. Really ?? Barkha reference OK but not Barkha Dutt, so as to not resemble real person?! Er, okay then!!! https://t.co/MhkOPcbAfe
— barkha dutt (@BDUTT) April 14, 2017
The Dabangg actor, Sinha also replied to Dutt’s tweet and said, “Couldn't have put it better myself! Thank you for always being such a champion.”
https://twitter.com/sonakshisinha/status/852877072540323840
Sinha did not just support Dutt but also gave the censor board a piece of advice. In an interaction with IANS, she expressed her views on beeping out of Dutt’s last name and articulated, “The censor board really needs to come to a consensus within themselves on what is right in one film… Is not right in another film.”
She added, “There is no consistency in what they censor or what they censor, so I think they first need to come to a consensus.”
ALSO READ: War of words: Barkha Dutt takes on Arnab Gosmami in FB post
CBFC tried to justify its stance on the censoring of Dutt’s last name by telling The Quint, “Referring to real-life characters without their consent is not allowed. We gave them the option of either get the well-known journalist’s permission or to beep out the direct reference to her.”
The film’s director, Sunhil Sippy revealed the story behind the reference and its censorship, “Noor, that’s Sonakshi Sinha, aspires to be like Barkha and looks up to her. They cut the ‘Dutt’ so as not to refer to a living person. We are okay with that. Barkha is as iconic for any female journalist as Lata Mangeshkar is to a female singer or Sachin Tendulkar is to any cricketer.”
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