Filmmaker Pahlaj Nihalani passed away on June 4, 2026. He breathed his last at the age of 76. He had liver related problems, after which he died. It is being told that he was ill for a long time, after which he has now passed away. Pahlaj Nihalani is not only a film producer but has also been the former chairman of CBFC. Between 2015 and 2017, Nihalani held the position of Chairman of the Central Board of Film Certification. During this period, he took some decisions which created a lot of uproar. The situation became such that he was even given the tag of cultured chairman. Let us tell you about five controversies related to him.
89 cuts were made in ‘Udta Punjab’
Pahlaj Nihalani had made 89 cuts on Shahid Kapoor’s film ‘Udta Punjab’, which created a lot of controversy. Talking to NDTV about this, he had said, ‘There was no political pressure on the Censor Board’s decision to remove references related to Punjab, politics and elections. He had no influence even on the title of the film. Speaking in favor of the Central Government, he had said, ‘The Central Government never interferes in the work of the Censor Board. There was no political interference in this.
Let us tell you that Pahlaj Nihalani had asked to remove the word Punjab from the name of the film and to completely remove all political content from the film, on which the makers were very angry and they reached the Bombay High Court. Where the censor board was severely reprimanded.
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Uproar over kissing scene of the film ‘Spectre’
Along with this, Pahlaj Nihalani was also in the news for ‘Spectre’ of the Hollywood film ‘James Bond’. When it was to be released in India, Nihlan had shortened the length of Daniel Craig’s kissing by 50 percent. His decision was also criticized by Ashok Pandit. With this, the cultural James Bond started trending on social media.
Ruckus over Anushka Sharma and Shahrukh Khan’s film
Along with this, Pahlaj Nihalani was also in the news about Shahrukh Khan and Anushka Sharma’s film ‘Jab Harry Met Sejal’. In this, he had objected to the use of the word ‘intercourse’ and had said that if he got one lakh votes, he would clear it. But later he went back on his promise. While talking to Mirror Now, he had said, ‘The use of this word will make the family members who had gone to watch the film uncomfortable. Children will question this. Therefore, he had demanded to remove this word from the film. However, there was a lot of uproar over this and people also made fun of it.
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‘Lipstick under my burqa’ was banned
At the same time, Pahlaj Nihalani has also been in the news for the film ‘Lipstick Under My Burkha’. He had described this film as female oriented and had also objected to the intimate scenes. Nihalani had even refused to give a certificate to the film and had said, ‘Remove me, I don’t care but I will keep doing my work honestly.’ He had further said, ‘The film should be made according to Hindustani tradition.’
Had refused to give certificate to ‘bastard’
Not only this, Pahlaj Nihalani had also refused to give certificate to Anurag Kashyap’s another film ‘Haramkhor’. On this, Guneet Monga had told Aaj Tak, ‘They had refused to give the certificate considering the subject of this film as objectionable and did not ask to cut the scene. In fact, it refused to pass the film and said that teachers have been portrayed in a wrong way. Let us tell you that Shweta Tripathi and Nawazuddin Siddiqui were in important roles in the film and intimate scenes were shot between the two, on which Pahlaj had objected.