Om Puri's 'Rambhajjan Zindabad' rejected by CBFC, claims maker

The Central Board of Film Certification has denied a certificate to late actor Om Puris "Rambhajjan Zindabad" citing "abuses and absurd language" as the reason, says Khalid Kidwai, who has co-produced the film along with Vinod Shah.

"'Rambhajjan Zindabad' was the last film which was shot by Om Puri-ji. The film was expected to release by February. Censor board has not approved it yet due to inclusion of abuses and absurd language," Kidwai said in a statement.

"The language in the film is very similar to 'Paan Singh Tomar'," he added.

The veteran actor passed away on January 6.

Directed by Ranjeet Gupta, the story of the film revolves around Chiraunji village in Uttar Pradesh and shows how lower caste daily wager Ram Bhajan, who wants to earn more money, tries to misuse a government scheme and faces caste politics and corruption.

"I applied for certificate of 'Rambhajjan Zindabad' on December 10 (last year) and they gave me time on January 10 for the first screening. After watching the film for 20 minutes, they rejected it and called me on January 20. The film was again rejected on that date," Kidwai said.

"I had given my film for censor to get it approved and they gave me dates three to four times. But finally they have rejected it with (suggestion of) 50 cuts," he added.

Kidwai, who was among Om Puri's friends, was with the actor the night before he passed away. The actor had finished shooting for the film before his death.

He feels CBFC should release "Rambhajjan Zindabad" uncut.

"Otherwise there will be no gravity," Kidwai added.

Apart from Om Puri, "Rambhajjan Zindabad" also features Zakir Hussain, Seema Azmi, Shweta Bhardwaj, Jaideep Jaffery and Abhay Joshi.

--IANS

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