MUMBAI MIRROR (November 24, 2015)
Criticism against Censor Board chief, Pahlaj Nihalani, has intensified following the recent cuts on kissing scenes in Spectre. “Stop playing nanny,“ several film personalities have lashed out at Nihalani, who continues to face flak from the industry and his own board members for his unilateral approach in clearing films.Veteran filmmaker Shyam Benegal said censorship should be abolished. “... I am concerned about the imposition of censorship here, which has no real purpose except to come in the way of your expression. That's the kind of censorship I oppose. It doesn't make sense,“ Benegal said on the sidelines of IFFI in Goa. Bajrangi Bhaijaan director Kabir Khan, who is also in Goa, said he found the whole fiasco “ridiculous“. “We have to be told as adults we can't see a kiss? And a kiss being reduced from 30 seconds to 8 seconds? Are those 22 seconds going to destroy our morality and the culture of our country? This is absolutely ridiculous that the censor board has to act like a nanny.“
Sonakshi Sinha pointed out that international films never faced such an issue in the country earlier while refraining to take names. “Whoever is playing nanny should first kind of rewind back and see the films that they have been making and then kind of figure out and decide what is to be done,“ she said, taking a dig at Nihalani's filmography. Earlier, veteran actress Shabana Azmi had wondered how could someone decide what length a kiss should be.