Prakash Jha's upcoming film Raajneeti has sent shockwaves through the country's grand old party even before hitting theatres. Even as the filmmaker has been claiming that the movie is not about the Congress or its chief Sonia Gandhi, the party has used its proxies in the Central Board of Film Certification, or censor board, to snip through the reel to make the movie compatible with its sensibilities.

The film has been given a U/A certificate by the censor board four days after branding it with an adult stamp. However, Headlines Today has learnt that the change did not come easy. The censor board sent the movie to a super censor for clearance before certifying it.

Sources said that the censor board screening committee passed it to a revising committee. Censor board chief Sharmila Tagore herself suggested the names of the three committee members.

The first name was that of Congress media cell secretary Tom Vaddakan, the second was Pankaj Sharma, an assistant editor for Congress mouthpiece, and the third was Sanjeev Bhargava. The team went through the movie frame by frame before clearing it.

Congress, however, dismissed any charges of interference in the affairs of the censor board. Congress spokesman Shakeel Ahmed said, "Every film needs censor board certificate. It is for the censor board to decided whether it should be given a U certificate or a U/A. It is not for the party to decide."