Anurag Kashyup upset over 'Phule’ backlash: Raises a very crucial question

Mumbai, April 16 (IANS) Filmmaker and actor Anurag Kashyup has raised his concern over the backlash faced by Ananth Mahadevan's biographical drama, "Phule".

The Pratik Gandhi and Patralekhaa starrer has been facing backlash for allegedly promoting casteism. The makers have been asked by the Central Board of Film Certification’s (CBFC) to make multiple edits to the film before its release on April 25.

The makers had to remove several caste references, including terms such as ‘Mahar’, ‘Mang’, ‘Peshvai’, and ‘Manu's system of caste' after CBFC's guidelines.

Sharing his distress about the CBFC's decision, Kashyup penned a note on his Insta stories saying, "Punjab 95, Tees, Dhadak 2, Phule- I don't know how many other films are blocked that exposes the agenda of this casteist, regionalist, racist, government is blocked who is so ashamed to see there own face in the mirror. So, ashamed that they can't even openly talk about, what is it about the film that bothers them, F....ing cowards."

In another post, the 'Gangs of Wasseypur' maker asked a very important question - before the release of the film how do groups and wings get access to the films?

He wrote, "My question is, when the films goes for censoring there are four members in the board. How the fuck the groups and the wings get access to films until and unless they are given access to it. The whole fucking system is rigged."

Prior to this, filmmaker Anubhav Sinha also used social media to question the film censorship. The 'Thappad' director wrote on his IG, “Is there no caste system in society? Has it never existed? Why should we lie to ourselves? And then, why should only cinema be the one to lie? After all, the kind of content the Election Commission permits in speeches and what the CBFC allows in films—these cannot be two separate standards. Both are means of communicating with society."