Anurag Kashyap slams CBFC over cuts to Pratik Gandhi and Patralekhaa starrer Phule: ‘Ch*ya kaun hai koi to samjhave’ | Hindi Movie News

Filmmaker Anurag Kashyap has come out strongly against the censorship faced by Phule, the upcoming biographical drama directed by Ananth Mahadevan and starring Pratik Gandhi and Patralekhaa. The film, which revolves around social reformers Jyotiba and Savitribai Phule, is scheduled for release on April 25 but has been asked by the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) to undergo multiple edits before hitting theatres.
The CBFC has reportedly asked the makers to remove specific caste references, including words such as ‘Mahar’, ‘Mang’, ‘Peshvai’, and ‘Manu’s system of caste’, prompting criticism from filmmakers and social commentators.
Anurag Kashyap questions censorship process
Anurag Kashyap, who has never shied away from calling out censorship, shared his thoughts on Instagram Stories. Recalling his personal connection to the subject, he wrote, “Meri zindagi ka pehla natak Jyotiba aur Savitribai Phule pe tha. Bhai agar casteism nahin hota is desh mein toh unko kya zaroorat thi ladne ki. Ab ye Brahmin log ko sharam aa rahi hai ya wo sharam mein mare ja rahe hain ya phir ek alag Brahmin Bharat mein jee rahe hain jo hum dekh nahin paa rahe hain, ch*ya kaun hai koi to samjhave.” (The first play I ever did in my life was on Jyotiba and Savitribai Phule. If casteism didn’t exist in this country, why would they have needed to fight against it? Now these Brahmin groups either feel ashamed, are dying of shame, or perhaps they’re living in some alternate Brahmin-only India that we’re unable to see. Someone please explain—who’s the real fool here?)
In another post, he criticized the censorship process itself and questioned how certain groups were able to access unreleased films. “My question is, when the film goes for censoring, there are four members in the board. How the f* the groups and the wings get access to films until and unless they are given access to it? The whole f*ing system is rigged.”
Anurag Kashyap calls out government
Kashyap went further to highlight how Phule is just one of several films allegedly being suppressed due to their bold themes. He listed examples such as Punjab 95, Tees, Dhadak 2, and Phule, all of which, according to him, reflect uncomfortable truths. “I don’t know how many other films are blocked that exposes the agenda of this casteist, regionalist, racist government… so ashamed to see their own face in the mirror. So ashamed that they can’t even openly talk about what it is about the film that bothers them. F*in’ cowards.”

Prior to this, filmmaker Anubhav Sinha also used social media to question the film censorship. The ‘Thappad’ director wrote on his IG, “Is there no caste system in society? Has it never existed? Why should we lie to ourselves? And then, why should only cinema be the one to lie? After all, the kind of content the Election Commission permits in speeches and what the CBFC allows in films—these cannot be two separate standards. Both are means of communicating with society.”