Abhishek Chaubey, Vikramaditya Motwane support 'Babumoshai Bandookbaaz' team

Mumbai: Filmmakers Abhishek Chaubey, Vikramaditya Motwane and Alankrita Shrivastav have come out in support of Nawazuddin Siddiqui and his film 'Babumoshai Bandookbaaz' after the censor board demanded 48 cuts in the movie.

Chaubey, who had run into trouble with the censor board last year with his film 'Udta Punjab', said the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) is trying to create a sense of fear among filmmakers.

"There is a sense of fear which they've (CBFC) created in the minds of directors and producers that 'lets not let them make the films they want and only make the films which we want to see.' This is the their mindset, our lives depend on their personal likes and dislikes," Chaubey told reporters.

"It's unfair. Filmmakers and filmmaking are being affected a lot."

Rahul Dholakia, Sudhir Mishra, Satish Kaushik, Anubhav Sinha, Honey Trehan were also present at the event.

Kaushik said the board shouldn't curb the freedom of filmmakers.

"Give freedom to filmmakers, remove their fears. They should be fearless How can you make a film with fear? There has been no update about the Shyam Benegal committee report. Sometimes we feel things are going good but then again you hear such things," Kaushik said.

Alankrita, whose film 'Lipstick Under My Burkha' was denied certification, said censorship isn't required at all in a democratic country.

"We need to get rid of it otherwise we won't be able to tell the stories freely at all. Whether it was 'Udta Punjab' or 'Lipstick Under My Burkha', it keeps on happening. It seems nothing is changing," she said.

Dholakia said, "I&B ministers come and go but he (Pahlaj Nihalani) is still there. Everyone has protested but nothing has happened. Obviously, he is following someone's order and that needs to be addressed."