'72 Hoorain' co-producer claims CBFC refused to grant certificate to its trailer

Ashoke Pandit, co-producer of the film 72 Hoorain, on Tuesday, said the censor board has refused to give a certificate to the trailer of the movie set for release on July 7.

Directed by Sanjay Puran Singh Chauhan, the film stars Pavan Malhotra and Aamir Bashir in the lead and focuses on the consequences of violent extremism.

In a video message, Pandit also appealed to Union Minister for Information and Broadcasting Anurag Thakur and Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) chairperson Prasoon Joshi to pull up the people in the censor body who are trying "to snatch away our creative independence and freedom of expression".

"We, the makers, of the film 72 Hoorain are quite shocked and surprised because the censor board today refused to give us a certificate for our trailer. It's quite funny and sad that a film which has won a National Award, a film which has won an award at IFFI (International Film Festival of India), the visuals are the same as what was then in the film, what is there in the trailer. So on one side, you have given a National Award to the film, and on the other side, you are refusing a certificate to the trailer of the film," the producer said in the 1.30-minute video.

There was no immediate response from Joshi when contacted.

72 Hoorain had its premiere under the Indian Panorama section at the 2019 International Film Festival of India (IFFI) in Goa, where it received the ICFT-UNESCO GANDHI MEDAL Special Mention. In 2021, Chauhan won the National Film Award for best direction for the film.

Earlier this month, prominent religious and political leaders in Kashmir decried the negative portrayal of Muslims in 72 Hoorain, saying the movie "hurts the sentiments" of the community.

Claiming there's "something wrong with CBFC", Pandit urged Joshi and Thakur to look into the matter.

"Therefore, we appeal to Prasoon Joshi sahab, the chairman of CBFC, to pull up the people and ask for this funny decision that they have taken. We also appeal to our I&B Minister Anurag Thakur Sahab that please look into this and see to it that who are these people, these black sheep in CBFC who are trying to snatch away our creative independence and freedom of expression," he said in the video.

A National Award-winning film cannot be refused a censor certificate for its trailer, he added.

The makers will now release the trailer of 72 Hoorain digitally on June 28. Produced by Saarthie Entertainment and Aliens Pictures, the film is written by Anil Pandey and Junaid Wasi.