‘Don’t judge a film by its Censor certificate’

Films shouldn’t be judged good or bad just by their certificates, said ace cinematographer-director Balu Mahendra.

When Tamil poet and writer Thamizhachi Thangapandian, one of the guests at the audio launch of Neer Paravai noted that films with ‘U’ certificates have become rare in Tamil cinema and congratulated the Neer Paravai team for having made a movie suitable for all audiences as it has got an U certificate, Balu Mahendra, who was also a guest, said the quality of a film can’t be determined only with its certificate.

“Censor Board issued ‘A’ certificate to my film 'Moondram Pirai', but everyone knows what happened after its release. Apart from being a huge hit among audiences, it also got the National Award for my cinematography and Kamal’s acting,” he said.

He added that the quality of the film should be decided only after watching it. “With all due respects to the Censor Board, I'm saying that the certificates they issue don’t guarantee a good film for audiences. You should watch and decide,” he said.