Pahlaj Nihalani, former Central Board of Film Certification chairperson, passed away on June 4, 2026, at age 76. Suffering from liver issues, he was in Nanavati Hospital, Mumbai, before passing away. The news came via an official statement from industry reps. His body will be cremated at the Santacruz Hindu Crematorium in Mumbai that same day at 3 pm.
Born on January 10, 1950, in Mumbai to a Sindhi family, Pahlaj Nihalani became a well-known figure in the Hindi film world. He started in the industry as a producer in 1982 with Haathkadi, which starred Shatrughan Sinha. So, he began his career with a solid commercial film to his name.
Over 20 years, he made a number of successful films. In 1986, Ilzaam introduced Govinda as a leading man and in 1992 Shola Aur Shabnam gave us Divya Bharti's first leading role. Aankhen's release in 1993 distinguished itself as being the greatest financial success of both films, which starred Govinda and Chunky Panday.
Pahlaj Nihalani worked with actors such as Shatrughan Sinha, Dharmendra, and Govinda. As a producer, he created action films, comedies and family dramas. He produced the films Julie 2 in 2017 and Rangeela Raja in 2019 as well. He also served as president of the Association of Motion Picture and TV Program Producers for 29 years.
In January 2015, Pahlaj Nihalani became the CBFC chairperson, appointed by the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting. He stayed in this position until August 2017 but faced plenty of controversies. Pahlaj riled folks up when he circulated a list of 28 banned words for films.
Under him, kissing scenes got chopped from James Bond's Spectre too. During his tenure, CBFC rejected certification for the movie Unfreedom but okayed Aligarh, which explores same-sex relationships, with an A rating.
Initially denying Lipstick Under My Burkha on the grounds of being too ‘lady-oriented’ resulted in some backlash for him as well. But his larger problem was with Udta Punjab, where CBFC asked for 89 cuts. Then Bombay High Court made an order that the film could be released with only one cut.
Pahlaj Nihalani defended his choices, stating he was just following CBFC guidelines. He stepped down from his role in favour of lyricist Prasoon Joshi in August 2017.
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