Pahlaj Nihalani denies rumours of bias towards Befikre; assures a fair screening for Ok Jaanu

Pahlaj Nihalani, the Chairman of the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC), has rubbished the rumours that he was biased towards Aditya Chopra’s Befikre in terms of cutting the kissing scenes from the film. [caption id=“attachment_3161132” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Pahlaj Nihalani. File Photo[/caption] When the first promo of Befikre released earlier this year, Papon’s song Labon Ka Karobar celebrated physical love through a dozen couples kissing each other in the city of love, Paris. Nihalani, who is popularly considered ‘sanskari’, did not cut a single kissing scene on the grounds that expression of such love was normal in a Western city like Paris. However, months before the release of Befikre, Nihalani had cut a kissing scene in the Hollywood film Sam Mendes’ Spectre. Imtiaz Ali’s Tamasha and Karan Johar’s Ae Dil Hai Mushkil also suffered similar fates. Now, Johar’s next production Ok Jaanu is set to hit the theatres next month. It is a romantic comedy that revolves around a live-in relationship based in Mumbai. Thus, it is quite organic that there will be intimate scenes between the lead couple in the film. As Nihalani had deleted a couple of such scenes from Ae Dil Hai Mushkil, there were speculations that Ok Jaanu will also go through the scanner with the same level of scrutiny. However, The Indian Express reports that Nihalani has assured the fans of Dharma Productions that Ok Jaanu will go through a fair screening process. He clarified that no scenes involving Ranbir Kapoor and Aishwarya Rai Bachchan were deleted from Ae Dil Hai Mushkil, adding that the kiss between Kapoor and Anushka Sharma was removed as it was found ‘unduly prolonged’ by the board. Nihalani also rubbished the rumours that Yash Raj Films had greased his palms to ensure a smooth release of Befikre. “So, I am corrupt if I don’t cut the kisses. I am corrupt and ‘sanskaari’ if I cut the kisses. I might as well go with the first option,” he says, as per the report by The Indian Express.