Airlift granted all-clear by Censor Board

Akshay Kumars 1990 Kuwait-invasion drama Airlift which opens on Friday has just been granted an all-clear with a UA certificate. Apparently there are scenes of "tremendous emotional stress and heightened drama" which have been given the dreaded CBFCs green signal.

When quizzed about it a prominent member of the CBFC says, "We saw absolutely no reason to cut a single moment in Airlift. Mr Shyam Benegal, whom we all respect immensely, thinks the censor board should not behave like a school teacher. So we are behaving like liberal school teachers. Imagine what the classroom would be like without teachers. We are here to certify films, not cut them."

The Airlift director Raja Krishna Menon is delighted by the liberal treatment of his film. "The CBFC watched the film in the spirit it was conceived and directed. They understood what we were trying to achieve, so Im grateful that they certified it without any verbal or visual cuts."

Interestingly, the censor-free Airlift opens on the same Friday as Kya Kool Hain Hum 3 which has over a 100 verbal and visual cuts.