The chasm of discontent between filmmakers and Censor board officials on the release of filmmaker Velu Prabakaran’s Kadhal Kadhai widened this year. The tribulations of the filmmaker for three years with the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC), finally culminated in the movie’s release in July this year, albeit in a mutilated form. The film, which began its tryst with the CBFC in 2006 as Kadhal Arangam, had seen several revisions, cuts and curbs, before it finally released with a revised, watered-down version of the original script, and a new name, Kadhal Kadhai. The CBFC had ordered cuts up to seven minutes (of footage up to 600 feet) before permitting its release.
The idea of the filmmaker was honourable: making a film on how women shouldn’t be used as titillating objects by the society, but the certifying authorities contended that the movie, with extensive frontal nudity and obscenity, ended up showing women as only titillating objects. After being rejected by Chennai CBFC in 2007, the filmmaker went to Delhi, which was considered a more liberal body. After Delhi too showed the thumbs down, Velu remade the film, and the CBFC released it with an A certificate.
It is a different matter that Kadhal Kadhai bombed at the box office, but the problem it represents is yet to find solution: combating what filmmakers call ‘rude censorship’. At least four more films were rejected this year alone by the certifying authorities, leading to simmering discontent among filmmakers. They were Renigunta, Thambivudayaan, Sivappu Malai and the yet-to-be-released Pulan Visaranai.
While strong political overtones had marred the certification of Pulan Visaranai, Sivappu Mazhai had been objected to, for picturisation of the Sri Lankan ethnic crisis in bad light, Thambivudayaan, for dealing with the Cauvery issue in an ‘amateurish’ way and Renigunta, for excessive violence.
The year also saw a higher number of films certified as A for excessive violence or obscenity. As against 16 A films in 2007, Kollywood saw 26 A rated films this year, as on December 21. Of the 134 films certified so far this year, 76 have been certified U, 32 as UA and 26 as A.
Discontent with the certification also stems from the lack of options to pigeonhole different films in, contend certifying officials of Chennai CBFC. This has led to the proposal to introduce a few more classifications and an official announcement can be expected about it soon, says Sukumaran, assistant regional officer, CBFC Chennai.