CBFC is still irresponsible after Prasoon Joshi took charge: Umeed director Rajat Mukherjee

Rajat S Mukherjee, who is making his directorial debut with Umeed, is upset with the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) for asking him to remove "inspired by real incidents" claim from the film.

He feels CBFC remains "irresponsible" even after the appointment of lyricist Prasoon Joshi as its new chairman.

The film, which was earlier supposed to be released on 22 September, is based on unethical drug trials in India.

"It's absolutely ridiculousness how we have been asked to remove 'inspired by real incidents' from the film. I have spent years in research on this subject. We will not release the film with ‘A' certificate which conveys truth about pharma companies," Mukherjee said in a statement.

"What's upsetting us is that CBFC is still irresponsible even after Prasoon Joshi took the charge," he added.

Told through the perspective of its protagonist Mia (Pallavi Das), Umeed shows how pharma giants use celebrities to give "unethical clinical trials" a mask of vaccination programmes.

Besides Das, the film also features Milind Gunaji, Dalip Tahil, Freddy Daruwala and Shishir Sharma.