Aamir Khan may have staged a soft power coup in China. His earthy, grassroots advocacy in Dangal of gender rights, set in semi-urban but aspirational India, has struck an emotional chord with a young, curious, tech-savvy generation of the “Middle Kingdom”.

English is not the first language for a great many Indians, but even so, the choice of words used by the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) to deny certification to Prakash Jha’s film Lipstick Under My Burkha is quite bizarre. The Board says that what is objectionable is that it is a “lady oriented film”, focussing on their “fantasy above life”. It is far from clear why a film that is “lady oriented” is bad, or why women’s fantasies can only have a certain altitude.

Four months after Pakistan blocked Hindi films in its cinemas in a tit-fortat after Bollywood banned Pakistani artists following the attack on the Army post in Uri, the government in Islamabad moved to allow their screening with PM Nawaz Sharif announcing a committee to look into demands of local theatre owners who are bleeding financially.

A certain primal and unthinking disgust has arisen in India with the thought of Fawad Khan cavorting in a Bollywood film juxtaposed against Pakistani militants entering Indian territory and killing Indian soldiers. In that moment everyone, irrespective of what they do, what their talents are, and where they ply their trade, becomes identifiable solely by their citizenship ­ sitting in front of the TV screen we are one with the martyred soldier in the Uri barrack; Fawad Khan, hitherto matinee idol, suddenly the very likeness of the dastardly terrorists spawning violence and hatred.

The row over Karan Johar’s  Ae Dil Hai Mushkil (ADHM) film’s issue, which stars Pakistani actor Fawad Khan, was finally resolved on Saturday with the intervention of Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, according to Hindustan Times report. According to report the Filmmaker Johar, Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) president Raj Thackeray and president of the Film Producer’s Guild Mukesh Bhatt held a meeting with Fadnavis after which Bhatt announced that Johar’s movie will have a tribute message for soldiers killed in militants attack on Uri brigade headquarter.

Names of Punjab’s cities, the name of the state itself and a dog named Jacky Chain – these are just a few of the 94 cuts that Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) has demanded in the adults-only Udta Punjab.

Internet service providers (ISPs) in the country have been asked to block more than 800 pornographic websites, communications ministry sources said Sunday.

Film producer Pahlaj Nihalani, a self-confessed Narendra Modi fan, is in the news again after a list of 28 cuss words devised by the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) was leaked on social media. This list of 13 English and 15 Hindi words embarrassed the government, and Bollywood filmmakers saw in it another version of Swacch Bharat Abhiyan.

Messenger of God (MSG) the movie, which was released amidst controversies, has already broken all the box-office records. The movie on its first day of release made a whooping Rs 500 crore. None of the Bollywood critiques can believe that MSG is receiving such great response from the audience.

“Don’t underestimate the power of a common man.” This is how the residents of Bandra reacted as the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation finally demolished the illegal ramp outside actor Shah Rukh Khan’s “Mannat” bungalow on Saturday.

He is the love charger, ghost-rider, superpower, vigilante, bomber, painter, healer, father… and much more rolled into one. His swagger is unmistakably Bollywood, enough to brand him the 'baap' of all heroes. 

For a party that talks of less government, more governance, this was an opportunity missed. The controversy over the resignation of the previous chairperson of the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) notwithstanding, this was a chance to dismantle what one commentator calls a 'Soviet-era censor board'.