Fans of Hindi films were in for a shock recently after the news about Pahlaj Nihalani, former CBFC (Central Board Of Film Certification) chief, being associated with Julie 2 as a distributor started making the rounds.
From the posters and promo of Julie 2, which stars south actress Raai Laxmi, it is clear that the film is an erotic thriller and has everything Nihalani didn’t support when he was the CBFC chief. His most famous (read: infamous) order was to tone down the kissing sequence in the last James Bond movie, Spectre (2016). He also gave himself the nickname ‘sanskari', meaning cultured.
Nihalani was present at the trailer launch of Julie 2. So, obviously, he was asked about the hypocrisy of being associated with a film having erotica as its mainstay. Much to everyone’s surprise, he described Julie 2 as ‘adult family film.’ “It does not have scenes of obscenity or vulgarity and is a completely adult family film,” he said.
Elaborating on his decision, he added, “You might all be wondering why I started off distribution with Julie 2 of all the films. People might think how I can be back with such a film even after being a sanskari. You all are looking at the film from the point of view of an erotic film. But every film has its own framework and its own ideas. When I heard the story of Julie 2 in its initial stages, I found it to be very interesting as it is an inside-the-industry story.”
In fact, Nihalani also went on to say that the film is an 'eye-opener'. “This film is also about how a few people in the film industry demean the industry’s name. I am grateful that I am associated with this film,” he added.
Nihalani and CBFC faced flak the most when the refused to certify Alankrita Shrivastava’s Lipstick Under My Burkha, terming it too "lady oriented". When it was pointed out to him that his film too is "lady oriented", he brushed off the question saying, “I know what you are referring to and all I would like to say is that there is no burkha here.”
Speaking to India Today magazine, Nihalani maintained that he will always be sanskari. He said, “My principles are always there. Mai sanskari tha, hun aur rahunga (I was, am and will remain sanskari). Don’t make your judgements without having watched the movie.”
Directed by Deepak Shivdasani, Julie 2 is the sequel to Julie (2004), which had Neha Dhupia in the lead.