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Director and producer Sanjay Sharma has made his stand clear against CBFC regarding the certification of the film Sahiya. In a press conference held in Mumbai, Sharma said that if the Censor Board does not change its attitude towards small budget films, then he will not shy away from taking the legal route. “I am definitely preparing to go to court. I am waiting till tomorrow, when the five-day period ends. Hopefully the censor board will give the nod. If they don't, we will have no option but to go to the high court and demand a probe into the entire matter,” he said.

Sanjay Sharma has directed and produced Sahiya, this film is stuck in the censor board for the last few days. Sharma also raised questions as to why films are kept with the Censor Board for months and why the clear reason for this is not given to the filmmakers. He claimed, “I have met many people who told me that their films were stalled for five or six months. They kept going around, yet they were not given any reason as to what was happening.” According to him, this is not just a problem for his film, but has become a big problem for small filmmakers.

Sahiya stars Shantanu Maheshwari, Rinku Rajguru and Neeraj Kabi in important roles. Set against the backdrop of the conflict between police and Naxalism, the story of this film revolves around ordinary tribal people who are caught between violence and conflict. Sharma says that the film neither supports Naxalism nor promotes violence. In such a situation, they do not understand why such a long process is going on regarding the film.

In the press conference, Sharma also expressed his apprehensions regarding his journalism background and association with news organization 4 PM. He said, “I suspect that the name '4 PM' could be the reason for my harassment. Perhaps some people have objections to this name. I have faced harassment for many reasons in the past as well. I had also gone to the Supreme Court and Maharashtra High Court during my journalism career, but I never thought that I would be targeted in Bollywood just because of '4 PM'.”

After this Sharma raised the question that if anyone has any problem with him or his journalistic work, then why should other people associated with the film have to pay the price for it. He said, “You may have a problem with me or '4 PM', but why is a film showing the blood, sweat and hard work of 100 to 200 people being stopped? What is the thinking behind this?” The same concern is visible behind his statement that a film does not only belong to its director, but the hard work of hundreds of people working behind the scenes is also associated with it.

Sharma also appeared to be very angry about depositing the phone outside during the screening process of CBFC. He asked, “What confidential conversations are happening behind closed doors that phones have to be left outside? There is something wrong, isn't it? What are you afraid of? If you have nothing to be afraid of, then say it openly. Sit in front of us, turn on the camera, and tell us what is wrong in the film—what is worth objecting to.” Sharma says that filmmakers should get a record of the objections and the entire conversation, so that they know which part of the film has been questioned and why.

Sharma has also said to ask questions to this process through RTI. He says, “I am raising questions through RTI: Why was the film not seen for 51 days? Why were people not told which board members were watching the film?” Along with this, he demanded to keep the reply received by the producer on record. Now it remains to be seen what CBFC responds to this controversy and whether Sahiya gets the certificate or the matter actually reaches the High Court.