Censor board clamps down on gaali-galauj in Dum Laga Ke Haisha

25 Feb 2015

Dum Laga Ke Haisha, the latest offering from Yash Raj films, has been ordered cuts by the censor board. The film has been ordered 3 audio cuts, all Hindustani cuss words, before being granted a U certificate.

The word 'ghanta' has been changed to 'thenga'. 'Haraamipana' is changed to 'chichorapana' and 'haraamkhor' has been replaced by 'kathor'.

The film's debutant director Sharat Katariya is none too pleased.

Condemning the decision to mute what he considers to be the appropriate language for his characters, Sharat says, "The gaalis in our film reflected the attitude of the characters which we've now achieved with substitute words. In principle, I'm not in favour of a censor body deciding what content should be seen by the audience. It should be up to the audience to decide what they want to see and hear, and what they don't." However, Sharat feels cuss words and abuses are sometimes put into films to get the audiences' attention. "Being a writer I feel one should be honest to the milieu and not write anything simply to sound cool or get applause."

As a rule, Sharat doesn't think expletives embody eloquence. "I am a fan of Billy Wilder's cinema. Like him I truly believe in making a stronger impact by expressing things indirectly. A subtle suggestion can go much further than a cuss word. For me the attitude and truth of the character is more important than the words they speak. So I don't think we lost any of our relevance by the three verbal cuts."