Censor board bends rules for bigwigs omnibus

27 Dec 2016

It looks like there are different guidelines for filmmakers likeAdityaChopra and Shyam Benegal , as compared with the rest of the film fraternity. A collection of short films entitled ShorSeShuruaat featuring 7 short films byprotgesof big names like Shyam Benegal, ZoyaAkhtar,ImtiazAli, HomiAdjaniaandNageshKukunoor has apparently been allowed to break rules to be certified with a UA in spite of explicit sexual content in one of the stories. Whats more, the omnibus has 6 stories in Hindi and 1 story in the English language. The entire omnibus is certified with a UA when the rules clearly state that films in different languages must be certified separately. When contacted theCBFCchairpersonPahlajNihalaniadmitted that rules were bent for the 7 short-films comprising ShorSeShuruaat.But this was because we believe the film brings forth new talented directors trained by eminent filmmakers likeShyamBenegaljiand Ms Mira Nair. Each film is socially relevant. So we have allowed a certain amount of extra creative leverage to ShorSeShuruaat.The last short-film Mia I Am in the omnibus directed by SatishRajKessrireddiis in English and shouldve been certified separately as the other 6 stories are in Hindi. However we allowed the English film to be certified along with the other Hindi short-films for the sake of creative convenience. In fact the English film does not even deserve a UA but an A certification. Nihalanireveals that in spite of bending the guidelines the makers of ShorSeShuruaat have been crying foul against the censor board. We cut only one word chutiya from the 6 short stories in Hindi. The word was part ofAtulKulkarnisdialogues. The last story Mia I Am in English was strongly sexual withdialogueslike Suck me and mother-fu.. Weve never allowed the mf expletive in any film which we had to remove because it was going with the other stories that clearly deserved a UA. And yet we are being accused of double standards by people associated with this project. Now when the film is released we will be asked why we allowed the explicit content in the last story. Clearly the censor board is in a no-win situation.