Soni Razdan, Pritish Nandy lobby for certification of filmmaker Ashvini Kumar's No Fathers in Kashmir

Ashvin Kumar’s No Fathers In Kashmir, a film that narrates a love story between two teenagers after their fathers disappear in the valley, has been struggling to get a U/A certificate. Actress Soni Razdan and journalist-turned-film producer Pritish Nandy have tweeted to the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) chief Prasoon Joshi to reconsider the decision. [caption id=“attachment_5865261” align=“alignnone” width=“825”] Ashvin Kumar, director of No Fathers in Kashmir. Image from Twitter @PaperDabba[/caption]

Thanks Pritish ... clueless as to why we are having so much trouble with this tender love story gem of a film @prasoonjoshi_ ...when debates are flying thick and fast in Parliament on Kashmir and Haider has released... it’s not like there are any secrets left to tell really https://t.co/43GjPogagU

— Soni Razdan (@Soni_Razdan) January 9, 2019

According to Mid-Day, in violation of the Cinematography Act, the CBFC failed to meet the 68 day deadline to certify his film and eventually gave him an A certificate 82 days after his application was filed. As the censor board did not take heed of Kumar’s request for a U/A certificate, he approached Film Certification Appellate Tribunal (FCAT), the final decision making body for film certification. However, he was sent back to the censor board because the the latter did not give the filmmaker a legally mandated hearing. “The A certificate violates the fundamental rights of our core audience of youth, denying them a chance to know what is happening in their country, in their own name. It denies the possibility of dialogue between the youth of Kashmir and that of the rest of India. It is only through dialogue that any peaceful solution can be found. And it is only through telling the truth that a dialogue is possible in the first place,” Kumar had said in a statement, reports The New Indian Express.