Pahlaj Nihalani is the new target of sarcastic jibes on social media, ever since the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) granted a U/A certificate to "The Jungle Book," the Rudyard Kipling masterpiece that's been made into a fantasy-adventure film by Jon Favreau. From calling him stand-up comedian to cracking sanskaari jokes, the social media users have trolled Nihalani's decision.
The film, scheduled to be released April 8, has once again exposed how far Censor Board chief Nihalani is from popular viewpoint. He was earlier trolled for his views on "Spectre." The U/A certificate (in India) means kids are eligible to watch the movie only if accompanied by adults. As an explanation, Nihalani said the 3D effects of animals jumping can scare young minds.
"The 3D effects are so scary that the animals seem to jump right at the audience. It's not just the story that determines certification. It's the overall presentation, the packaging and most important of all, the visual affects used to tell the story. In Jungle Book the jungle animals jumping at the audience in 3D is (are) startling. It's up to parents to decide how much of these effects are suited for their children," Nihalani told DNA.
The film will be out in theatres in India this Friday and will be released around the world the next weekend. The English version features the voices of actors Bill Murray, Ben Kingsley, Idris Elba, Lupita Nyong'o, Scarlett Johansson, Giancarlo Esposito and Christopher Walken, while Bollywood stars, including Priyanka Chopra, Om Puri, Nana Patekar, Shefali Shah, Rajesh Khattar and Irrfan Khan have dubbed for the Hindi version.
Critics have lauded the movie and appreciated the child artiste Neel Sethi's performance as Mowgli. And Twitterati are having fun taking potshots at Nihalani's decision. Take a look at the tweets here:
