Udta what? Punjab reference maybe dropped from Shahid Kapoor’s movie

Shahid Kapoor-starrer Udta Punjab maybe renamed with reports suggesting a censor board panel has asked the filmmakers to drop all references to Punjab and elections from the movie that portrays drug abuse in the state.

The film, scheduled for a June 17 release, reportedly hit a hurdle because of its depiction of narcotics abuse and the use of expletives, joining a string of controversial movies that have undergone cuts or name changes in recent times due to cultural, political or religious reasons.

Veerappan director Ram Gopal Varma said a more “truthful and righteous title” would be “Udta India” since drug abuse was not limited to Punjab, but many Twitter users posted against such a move.

Read: Udta Punjab should be titled Udta India, says Ram Gopal Varma

“Udta Punjab may do for Punjab what no one else has been able to do. Tragic if censored. People need to understand Punjab needs to be rescued (sic),” political commentator Sunanda Vashisht wrote.

Watch the Udta Punjab trailer here

In 2009, Irrfan Khan and Shah Rukh Khan’s Billu was made to remove the word ‘barber’ from its title after the community protested against it.

Read: Let’s wait and watch: Alia Bhatt on censor issue of Udta Punjab

John Abraham’s 2013 thriller, Madras Café, changed its title from ‘Jaffna’ to sound ‘more youth-oriented’, but reports at the time suggested that it was an attempt to remove any direct reference to the LTTE militant group and former PM Rajiv Gandhi’s assassination.

Besides, the 2016 sex-comedy, Kya Kool Hain Hum 3, had to undergo massive cuts to get an adult certificate. Salman Khan’s 2015 blockbuster, Bajrangi Bhaijaan, had to trim several sequences involving Pakistan.

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