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Pahlaj Nihalani And His Son (And Daughter-In-Law) Are On Opposite Sides Of The 'Udta Punjab' Battle

Pahlaj Nihalani And His Son (And Daughter-In-Law) Are On Opposite Sides Of The 'Udta Punjab' Battle
Indian Bollywood film producer and present Chairperson of the Central Board, Pahlaj Nihalani attends the funeral of the late Bollywood music composer and singer Aadesh Shrivastava in Mumbai on September 5, 2015. AFP PHOTO (Photo credit should read STR/AFP/Getty Images)
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Indian Bollywood film producer and present Chairperson of the Central Board, Pahlaj Nihalani attends the funeral of the late Bollywood music composer and singer Aadesh Shrivastava in Mumbai on September 5, 2015. AFP PHOTO (Photo credit should read STR/AFP/Getty Images)

Pahlaj Nihalani, the controversial chairman of the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC), is under fire from all quarters now for the ongoing battle with Abhishek Chaubey's Udta Punjab.

The entire film industry is rallying against the Censor Board's draconian decision to award 89 cuts to the drama, starring Shahid Kapoor, Alia Bhatt, Kareena Kapoor Khan, and Diljit Dosanjh.

An interesting irony has emerged here, according to a report by Mumbai Mirror. An "awkward" situation has been created for Nihalani's own family, given that his 34-year-old son Chirag and daughter-in-law Radhika both work for Balaji Motion Pictures Ltd — which is one of the film's producers, along with Phantom Films.

While Chirag is a creative producer who is associated with all promotional material related to the film (including its trailer), his wife Radhika, whom he met in New York four years ago whilst studying filmmaking at New York Film Academy (she was a media student), is part of the film's marketing team.

The report states that Chirag was instrumental in getting the Udta Punjab trailer passed without any cuts a couple of months ago. However, when it comes to the fracas over the film, which is currently being denied a letter from the Revising Committee so that it can go to the next step (i.e. the Film Certification Appellate Tribunal, a statutory body that often overturns the Board's decisions), it seems that they are on opposite sides of the fence.

Both Chirag and Radhika have refused to comment on the matter to the media.

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This article exists as part of the online archive for HuffPost India, which closed in 2020. Some features are no longer enabled. If you have questions or concerns about this article, please contact indiasupport@huffpost.com.