KOLKATA: A student of Kolkata's premier Satyajit Ray Film and Television Training Institute
(SRFTI) forwent the national award nomination by refusing to comply with Central Bureau of Film Certification (CBFC) recommendation to change the title of his movie.
Sounak Kar's movie 'Sex with the monk and other stories' ran into controversy after it was recommended a change of title by the censor board. The CBFC recommendation stated that Guideline 6 of the
Cinematograph Act gives the censor board the power to scrutinise titles that are vulgar, offensive or provocative.
The 31-minute long English language film is about a boy's encounter with two girls on a single day in Kolkata after which he decides to become a monk. Sources revealed that despite the name, the movie
does not have any lovemaking scene and the title is only based on a passing reference of one of the girls that she once had sex with a monk.
Nevertheless, the censor board cleared the movie with an 'A' rating besides suggesting change in the title. While CBFC Kolkata advisory panel member Partha Sarathi Chowdhury justified the cut claiming
that the title was a deliberate attempt to create religious disharmony, SRFTI director Debamitra Mitra said that the student's decision not to compromise with the change of title was his independent call but the fiasco resulted in the institute's loss as without the film carrying the CBFC's recommendation, the institute won't be able to send the film for the nominations of the national awards.
On the other hand, Kar has remained defiant and has refused to accept the censor board cut. Terming the cut as 'silly', he said that he had not made the film thinking about the national award and
would not accept the change of the title of the movie.