Anurag Kashyap slams protests around 'Phule'
NEW DELHI, Apr 17 (PTI): Filmmaker Anurag Kashyap on Thursday criticised the protests around the film "Phule", a biopic on social reformers Jyotirao and Savitribai Phule, questioning why films depicting caste issues get banned in India.
The director also criticised the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) for modifications suggested to "Phule".
The biopic, featuring Pratik Gandhi and Patralekhaa in the roles of the reformist couple, was set for release last week but it will now arrive in theatres on April 25.
After the trailer of "Phule" was unveiled online on April 10, some members from the Brahmin community raised objections stating that they've been portrayed in poor light.
In a series of post on Instagram, Kashyap said the very first play of his career was based on the lives of Jyotiba and Savitribai Phule.
"If casteism didn't exist in this country, why did they need to fight against it?"
The makers of "Phule" on April 7 received a 'U' certificate from the censor board, which had asked them to make changes like removing terms such as 'Mang', 'Mahar' and 'Peshwai'.
The modifications also included the visual of 'man carrying a broom', which has been replaced with 'boys throwing cow dung balls at Savitribai', and the line '3000 saal purani gulami' being changed to 'Kai saal purani'.
Kashyap noted that not just "Phule" but Sandhya Suri's "Santosh" and "Dhadak 2" are reportedly also facing censor trouble.
He added Diljit Dosanjh-starrer "Panjab '95" and Dibakar Banerjee's "Tees" to the list of movies that are finding it difficult to release in India.
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India-Pak tensions: Saudi junior foreign minister in Delhi on unannounced visit
New Delhi (PTI): Saudi Arabia's Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Adel Aljubeir is in India on an unannounced visit and held talks with External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Thursday with a focus on de-escalating tensions between India and Pakistan.
Aljubeir's visit to New Delhi comes as the already frosty ties between India and Pakistan plummet further following the Indian military's targeted strikes on nine terror infrastructures in Pakistan and Pakistan-Occupied Kashmir.
"A good meeting with @AdelAljubeir, Minister of State for Foreign Affairs of Saudi Arabia this morning," Jaishankar said in a social media post.
"Shared India's perspectives on firmly countering terrorism," he said.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi also landed in New Delhi around midnight last night on a scheduled visit amid the escalating tensions between India and Pakistan.
Araghchi will hold wide-ranging talks with Jaishankar shortly. He is also meeting President Droupadi Murmu in the afternoon.
In retaliation for the Pahalgam terror attack, Indian armed forces on early Wednesday carried out missile strikes on nine terror targets, including Bahawalpur, a stronghold of the Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) terror outfit, and Muridke, the base of the Lashkar-e-Taiba.
Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri said India decided to carry out the "proportionate" strikes to bring the perpetrators and planners of the April 22 Pahalgam terror attack to justice as there was "no demonstrable step" from Pakistan to act against terrorist infrastructure on territories under its control.
