EXPLOSIVE: “Jo film 10 minute bhi dekhne ko mann nahin karta, aisi filmon ko most watched film of the year ka title diya jaata hai! I wonder if OTT platforms are fooling the people or if are they fooling themselves” – Pahlaj Nihalani

Pahlaj Nihalani started the year 2023 by celebrating his 73rd birthday, on January 10. In February, he held an inauguration event for his revamped South Mumbai theatre, Nishat Cinema. Bollywood Hungama exclusively spoke to him a few days ago about what he’s up to nowadays and a lot more. How do you look at the box office at present? If I go back to 1993 or 1994, it was a time when a big film, of the scale of Pathaan, will be released in maximum of 150 cinemas across the country. Yet, the big films at that point did the same kind of business that Pathaan or any other big film does in today’s times, despite the increase in prints and ticket rates in today's times. Those were the days when films would boast of 7 crore footfalls. I don’t think Pathaan will even cross 5 crore footfalls. Its run is about to get exhausted. Also, the ticket prices of Rs. 800 or 1000 can discourage some people to not venture out to cinema halls. 3 Idiots (2009) became a blockbuster with 4 crore footfalls. The cost of tickets has doubled since then but the box office hasn’t seen the same growth. Akshay Kumar used to give consistent hits but his films barely got footfalls of more than 1.25 crores. A film needs 1.50 or 1.75 crore footfalls to be declared a blockbuster. And our country's population is 140 crores. That’s why satellite channels are giving so much money to buy TV rights as they help the film reach out to every household. It’s also amusing that though many of the star-studded films are disasters, OTT platforms are claiming that millions of people have watched them on their platform. I don’t know where they are getting these numbers. Jo film 10 minute bhi dekhne ko mann nahin karta, aisi filmon ko most watched film of the year ka title diya jaata hai (smiles)! I wonder if they are fooling the people or if are they fooling themselves. You were the chairperson of the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC). What do you have to say about its functioning, under Prasoon Joshi? Recently, you had spoken against reports that the orange swimsuit shot in the song ‘Besharam Rang’ from Pathaan might have been removed by the CBFC… A lot of controversies were made over the orange swimsuit. But the Censors have not cut those shots. And I had said before the release that you cannot remove a shot based on the colour. The issue died down after the release of the film. It was completely political. A chairperson’s tenure in CBFC is usually 3 years. There have been murmurs as to why Prasoon Joshi continues to be the chairperson since August 2017... He’s the chairperson till further orders. He’s there as a chairperson but he’s also not there! What do you mean? When we get the appointment letter, it states that the tenure will start from a certain date and end on a certain date or until further orders. Since there have been no further orders, he continues to be the chairperson. However, he’s not attending office. I doubt if he has visited the office in the last 2-3 years. Gaye honge office toh sirf 2-4 baar. It was said that you used to attend office everyday… Mere paas kaam nahin tha na! Inke paas bahut kaam hai (laughs). Do you feel sad that people remember you only for your stint as the CBFC chairperson and the controversies that erupted at that time and not your body of work? I feel that jo accha kaam karta hai, uski agar burai na ho, toh fir accha kaam hua hi nahin! Nowadays, you don’t hear anything critical about CBFC. That’s because of fear. Abhi sab cheez ka darr hai sabko. No one gives any reaction or quote to the media. I used to do that as I felt it was important to clarify. People didn’t like it. In my time, many wanted to become chairperson. They were eying my chair. Even right now, bahut log mehnat kar rahe hai. Par nahin ban paa rahe hai. I put together a system in place at CBFC. The new members are following it. They haven’t made any changes though times now are different. We have OTT platforms now. They are not under any rules. This needs to be addressed. Also Read: EXCLUSIVE: “One of the big reasons why films are FLOPPING big time is because there’s a lot of interference and DOMINANCE by the stars” – Pahlaj Nihalani

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