After his unceremonious exit from the Central Board of Film Certification, Pahlaj Nihalani is in the news again, over something that quite expected.
Nihalani, who as the chairperson of the CBFC became infamous for ridding films of anything "un-sanskaari", is now distributing Julie 2, which is touted to be an erotic thriller.
The official trailer of Julie 2 that begins with the words 'Pahlaj Nihalani presents', released today, has sentences like, "Yahan pe sirf body chalta hai, garma-garam body," and shots of blingy bras being slipped at the drop of a hat.
At the trailer launch of Julie 2, Nihalani was targeted for his sheer hypocrisy, but he maintained that he has no doubts that the film will pass with an 'A' certificate.
Speaking to India Today's Padmaja Joshi, Nihalani defended himself. "It is a content-oriented movie... subject is very strong," Nihalani told Joshi. "I am proud to associate with with movie." Nihalani went on to say that Julie 2 presents an inside story of the film industry.
When asked if he would have passed Julie 2 had it come to him for certification when he was CBFC chief, Nihalani side-stepped the question, instead saying, "My principles are always there... Mai sanskaari tha, hun aur rahunga (I was, am and will remain sanskaari)." "Don't make your judgements without having watched the movie," Nihalani further tells Joshi.
"I am not the CBFC chairman to pass or not pass Julie 2, there is a body and they will take a decision," Nihalani said. "Wait and watch."
Notably, Nihalani is the same man who once ordered kisses snipped (in the James Bond film Spectre, 2015), had problems with the word 'intercourse' (in Jab Harry Met Sejal this year) and even with a bra being shown in a film (in 2015's Dum Laga Ke Haisha).
