Celebs vs Censor Board: All you need to know about the ‘Udta Punjab’ battle

Yes, you heard that right! Varun Dhawan might be busy with his shooting schedules for forthcoming films but the actor makes time out for his friends and loved ones. He was spotted catching a late night show of his dear friend Alia Bhatt's latest film 'Udta Punjab' with his rumoured girlfriend Natasha Dalal and a bunch of friends. Varun's upcoming film 'Dishoom' directed by brother Rohit Dhawan will hit the screens on July 29. Not just that, the handsome hunk also has series of promising films under his belt for which he has begun shooting.

As 'Udta Punjab' released today, Bollywood celebs descended to watch the much-in-news film a day prior to its release. Amidst them was the gorgeous Katrina Kaif, who was seen donning a real sleek look. The actress happily posed for the pictures and also gave her views after watching the Abhishek Chaubey film. Talking to the media, Katrina was all praises for Shahid Kapoor and Alia Bhatt. "I thought it was a really, really outstanding film. Both Shahid and Alia have done an unbelievable job. Alia's performance has been absolutely incredible in the film. I really think it is a beautiful movie," she said. Well we couldn't agree more!

Amul has done it again! The dairy brand, popular for making quirky one-liner posters on current issues, has yet again come up with a brilliant poster. This time around on the verdict of 'Udta Punjab'. The Shahid Kapoor-Alia Bhatt starrer, based on drugs problem prevalent in Punjab, has garnered everyone's attention of late due to its infamous tussle with the CBFC committee. The Censor Board asked to make as many as 89 cuts to pass the film with an A-certificate. However, The Bombay High Court on Monday pronounced the verdict in favour of the film saying that the audience is mature enough to understand the content that's right or wrong. In the wake of this, Amul's utterly butterly girl is seen standing next to a judge, who holds a plate of butter with A (Adult) written on it. The poster screams, "No more cut cut!" We wonder what Pahlaj Nihalani's reaction to this will be!

The release of ‘Udta Punjab’ on the scheduled date June 17, 2016 looks dicey as producer Anurag Kashyap has locked horns with CBFC chief, Pahlaj Nihalani. The board has asked for 89 cuts in the film besides the omission of ‘Punjab’ from the title. As this does not seem to be acceptable to the makers, a huge debate has erupted over the same with all - from moviegoers to celebrities - cracking down on the board chief and censorship in general.

<strong>Anurag Kashyap</strong><br /> <br /> Co-producer of the film Anurag Kashyap is in no mood to bow down to the demands of the Censor Board headed by Pahlaj Nihalani. The filmmaker called him a dictator and the situation in India similar to North Korea. However, he was accused of having political allegiances. Taking a stand, he said, &ldquo;I always wondered what it felt like to live in North Korea .. Ab to plane pakadney ki bhi zaroorat nahin..There is no film more honest than UDTA PUNJAB .. And any person or party opposing it is actually GUILTY of promoting drugs. I request Congress, AAP and other political parties to stay out of my battle. It&apos;s my Rights vs the Censorship. I speak only on my behalf. So please don&apos;t colour my fight with any political affiliation because there is none.&rdquo;

<strong>Ram Gopal Varma </strong><br /> <br /> Ram Gopal Varma was among the first ones to come out in support of &lsquo;Udta Punjab&rsquo; and he is unstoppable since then. He said, &ldquo;The CBFC cuts of Udta Punjab are like they are ordering the doctor to hide the symptoms of the disease but let the patients suffer.&rdquo; Taking the Modi led BJP government head on, he said, &ldquo;Udta PM shud care about Girta Punjab and give achche din by ordering censor board to not stop showing truth..Achche din is that Modi sir! Kissa kursi ka being stopped by Gandhi family in 1975 emergency time was bad enough but achhe din guy stopping Udta in 2016 is worse.&rdquo;<br /> <br /> He called out to the people of Punjab by tweeting, &ldquo;Mothers of Punjab know what&apos;s really Uding in their families and if they truly are really Mothers they should come out n support Udta Punjab. All Punjab ppl must be idiots if they have to depend upon 6 self assumed smart people in Mumbai CB to decide what they should see or not see. More than anyone else it&apos;s Punjab ppl who know the truth of what&apos;s Uding ..if they have an iota of courage they should Ud and Udao the CB.&rdquo;

<strong>Rishi Kapoor</strong><br /> <br /> Veteran actor Rishi Kapoor is very active on Twitter and never minces his words when it comes to bringing attention to things that matter. The actor recently changed his Twitter name to &lsquo;Rains!Where are you? &rlm;&rsquo; to bring light to the &lsquo;Udta Punjab&rsquo; issue, the release of which is now in doldrums owing to the huge number of 89 cuts suggested by the Censor Board including the change of its name. He tweeted, &ldquo;Think. Jo naam badalne chaiyen,un par amal naheen kar rahen hain! Koi "Udta" hua cheez badalna chahte hain. "Punjab" expose ho jayega na lol.&rdquo;

<strong>Tisca Chopra </strong><br /> <br /> Tisca Chopra says, &ldquo;I am against censorship in principle. I am completely averse to the idea of censoring films because that makes you feel that the audience is like children and they need to be told what they can do and what they can&rsquo;t do. I think the better and smarter way to do it is to grade films with stuff like PG, A, UA like certification like they grade internationally for films like it is above 16 and it is above 18. And then its parent&rsquo;s choice and the children&rsquo;s choice. Here they have a strict identification at the cinema point that this child is not 18 and can&rsquo;t go and see the film. We are behaving like an immature society by creating this kind of structure.&rdquo;

<strong>Harbhajan Singh and </strong><strong>Ravindra Jadeja</strong><br /> <br /> Team India cricketer, Ravindra Jadeja too spoke up for the film &lsquo;Udta Punjab&rsquo; and why Punjab needs it as much as the moviegoers. He said, &ldquo;They&apos;re Perfectly Fine With A State Getting Ruined By Drugs Misuse & Mafia,What Baffles Them Is A Movie Made On It.Sigh! #UdtaPunjabCensored&rdquo;<br /> <br /> Adding weight to fellow team member, cricketer Harbhajan Singh too spoke up. He tweeted, &ldquo;Nt a movie buff bt if #UdtaPunjab showing rightly whats happening in punjab what&apos;s wrong with it then? We want our punjab drug free state. #Udtapunjab known for better things like love,peace,bhaichara,culture,respect,freedom fighters,spotsmans,music,I m a proud PUNJABI nd INDIAN. Am a proud punjabi nd stand by all my punjabi brothers/sisters 4 #mymotherland Punjab nd humankind.not taking a stand 4 ny movie wht so ever."

<strong>Farhan Akhtar </strong><br /> Farhan Akhtar shared a funny tweet indirectly hinting at the CBFC chief, Pahlaj Nihalani. He said, &ldquo;Power is the most dangerous addiction of all & someone in the CBFC seems to be tripping hard on Lassi in the Sky with Diamonds.<br /> #UdtaPunjab.&rdquo;<br /> <br /> <strong>Kapil Sharma </strong><br /> Comedian Kapil Sharma, who hails from Amritsar in Punjab, shared an emotional post on his social handles. He wrote, &ldquo;Those who say dat der r no drugs or illegal medicines easily available in Punjab..dont kno de real pain of Punjab. Families have lost their youth to easy drugs and lack of rehabs in de state.. so can&apos;t shut our eyes to this.&rdquo;

<strong>Arjun Kapoor </strong><br /> Arjun Kapoor stood up to speak up for censorship of films, a cause he called his own. He tweeted, &ldquo;U know a lot of people in our fraternity speak up for other causes, it&apos;s time we stood up for our own. #UdtaPunjab deserves a proper release.&rdquo;<br /> <br /> <strong>Karan Johar </strong><br /> &ldquo;#UdtaPunjab speaks of the reality of our times....censoring reality amounts to delusion.....the fraternity has to stand by what&apos;s right!!&rdquo;

<strong>Mahesh Bhatt</strong><br /> Mahesh Bhatt has always openly spoken about the censoring of films. He bluntly asked, "Censorship is the child of fear and the father of ignorance". Is Pahalaj Nihalani listening?&rdquo; He added later, &ldquo;The Censors says I am the one who says the last sentence on UDTA PUNJAB .The nation can say what it wants our verdict is going to stick. Why should I censor myself to nourish ignorance.&rdquo;<br /> <br /> <strong>Gauri Shinde </strong> &ldquo;When you tear out a man&apos;s tongue, you are not proving him a liar,you&apos;re only telling the world that you fear what he might say. #UdtaPunjab&rdquo;