First it was with James Bond film Spectre and now with Tim Miller’s superhero film, Deadpool. Both the movies were replete with beeps and cuts leaving the cinegoers in the city miffed at having to come to an A certified movie, but still be treated like kids. A large number of dialogues in the film were inconsistently chopped, much to the angst of the paying audience.
Interestingly, Hyderabad has seen a rise in concerts, has played host to reputed performers, karaoke nights and stand-up comedy too, signifying the growth in people’s choices for entertainment. Yet cinema remains the first preference for citizens. Unfortunately, while crores of money is being spent by the public even on mediocre films, the audience is being deprived of watching a film of choice with complete liberty, as movies are mindlessly censored by the Central Board of Film Certification. At a time when the focus should be on improving the quality of films and enhancing viewing experience for the audience, the Censor Board finds itself in the limelight.
Viewers feel that it’s unreasonable to censor dialogues and scenes just because a group of people think that they do not ‘represent Indian values’. If last year’s James Bond flick Spectre earned the Censor Board the unwanted tag of being ‘Sanskaari’ for brutally chopping a kissing sequence between Daniel Craig and Monica Bellucci, the latest film to put the board under the scanner is Tim Miller’s superhero film, Deadpool.
With filmmaker Shyam Benegal heading a committee to revamp the controversial CBFC, an online petition on Change.org is doing the rounds to stop censorship in ‘A’-rated films. “I paid `600 for a movie that I really wanted to see. I couldn’t understand half of the movie. The censor board had removed half the dialogue because they thought it was vulgar. They think Indians, even mature adults need to be protected. That our culture and morals will disintegrate because of a movie with some “bad” words,” the petition read. “This is ridiculous. The censor board needs to be reformed right away. We cannot let them treat us like 5-year-olds,” added the petition which has already garnered nearly 10,000 signatures.
Hyderabadi movie watchers have been equally vocal about this issue. “The fact that a movie has been given an ‘A’ certificate means that the audience is adult. Why is there a need to cut scenes for the adult audience? As per my understanding, the duty of the censor board is to certify movies based on content and not to suggest cuts and beeps. When will they grow up,” Vishwas Rao, a film buff, asks.
Filmmakers too have voiced their concerns about their cinematic liberty and artistic freedom being curbed by the CBFC. Most vocal has been Ram Gopal Varma, who has now directly taken on the censor board and is launching an online platform called RGV Talkies, where he will release short films that are censor-free. RGV posted a picture of a woman’s bottom on Twitter and said, “I’m going to dedicate my #RGVTalkies debut film ‘Single X’ to the Censor Board (sic).”
Censor Board officials say there’s a need for some moral policing and social responsibility, and that anything under the sun cannot be shown just because the film is given an ‘A’ certificate. “As per the Censor Board rules, even for an adult film, there are a few cuts which can be made. Anything and everything cannot be shown. We follow these rules for regional films and when a Hollywood film releases in India,” clarifies Jeevitha Rajasekhar, member of the censor board. “In the West, there’s a proper system in place, where films are certified according to age-groups and they are enforced in a diligent manner. However, in India, rules are not being enforced by theatre owners and the government is not doing enough to stop this,” Jeevitha reasons.
On the argument that the job of the censor board is only to certify films and not to suggest cuts, Jeevitha says, “I believe that there must be moral policing. Earlier, films would show women in two ways -- there would be a good woman and a vamp. Now there is no characterisation for women, and leading stars are shown ignoring heroines on-screen while they chase after them. The same is depicted in real life too and women are treated shabbily. So there must be some social and societal responsibility,” Jeevitha adds.
With Shyam Benegal asking for suggestions from the public by February 25 to help revamp the censor board, it remains to be seen how it will impact movie-watching in the country. You ca write your suggestions to
rajani@nfdcindia.com.