Why Satluj Has Renewed Focus on Rang De Basanti’s Rebellious Dialogues
Prasoon Joshi, the writer behind the powerful, rebellious dialogues of Rang De Basanti, is also the CBFC Chairman under Satluj’s (initial) tenure. Punjab ’95) was required to go through 127 cuts, leading to years of delay before its release. The film was later removed from ZEE5 soon after its premiere.
The irony did not go unnoticed. Rang De Basanti (2006) remains one of Indian cinema’s defining statements against institutional apathy and state inertia; Dialogues written by Joshi help turn the film into a cultural touchstone for a generation fed up with the system. Joshi also wrote the script and lyrics for the film, and this work is considered the culmination of his transition from advertising to cinema.
From songwriter to controversial figure
Joshi’s path to CBFC was built entirely within the film and advertising industries, not the bureaucracy. He debuted as a film lyricist with Rajkumar Santoshi’s Lajja before big Bollywood films like. Hum Tum, Fanaa, Rang De Basanti, Taare Zameen Par, Black, Delhi 6. He has won the Filmfare Best Lyricist Award three times (2007, 2008, 2014) and the National Film Award for Best Lyricist twice. Taare Zameen Par And chittagong. He also wrote the script Bhaag Milkha Bhaag (2013). Apart from his film work, he built a parallel career at McCann Worldgroup, eventually becoming India CEO and head of APAC.
He was appointed as the Chairman of the Central Board of Film Certification on 11 August 2017, replacing Pahlaj Nihalani, who had his share of controversies regarding the CBFC.
A tenure defined by interruptions, not just interruptions satluj‘s
satluj It is the highest-profile case, but it is not isolated. Under Joshi’s watch, the board has faced a series of controversies in the last two years: Caste-related dialogues were excluded from India’s Oscar nomination Homebound; phuleIt was asked to remove certain caste terms after its trailer, a biopic about anti-caste reformers Jyotirao and Savitribai Phule, faced objections; Dhadak 2 passed 16 separate regulations before certification; And Janaki vs Kerala State It was stopped because of its lead character’s name. Emergency, Kangana Ranaut’s movie 1975 EmergencyHe remained attached to the board for months before being released.
satluj It itself battled the CBFC for more than three years, reportedly demanding as many as 127 cuts before allowing it. The makers eventually skipped the theatrical release altogether and put the uncut film directly on ZEE5, but the film was pulled from the platform within 48 hours.
The board’s own problems
The discussions coincided with reporting on dysfunction within the CBFC itself: The board has not held its legally mandated quarterly meetings since 2019, has not published an annual report since 2016-17, and its members have been years into their official three-year term, which technically ends in 2020. Since the Film Certification Appeals Tribunal was abolished in 2021, filmmakers who disagree with this decision are left with only the Supreme Courts in the CBFC decision; a slower and more costly route than the court it replaced.
None of this is what Joshi’s own writings envisage for him. The man who gave Aamir Khan’s on-screen generation of rebels their voice against a broken system now sits at the head of the corporate machinery Rang De Basanti spent two and a half hours railing – and satlujThe film, about a real man who refuses to let the state’s version of history go unchallenged, is the latest to be challenged.
