Censor Board Chief Seen As Doing BJP Government’s Dirty Work In Opposing “Freedom Of Filmmaker”!
Fellow Censor Board member Ashoke Pandit tweeted his disapproval of the way in which the latest James Bond movie Spectre was cleared and described it as a “mockery of the freedom of the filmmaker” and slammed Nihalani for behaving as an official spokesperson for the BJP.
NEW DELHI – The Indian government’s now much Conservative Censor Board has reduced UK’s most famous fictional spy down to a meaningless half kiss.
The Board has slashed kissing scenes between James Bond and his girls, considering the length of the pecks “too excessive”, in the latest spy flick, Spectre.
The film is scheduled for release in India on November 20 and has received a U/A certificate. Reports said the film received four cuts which included kisses between Daniel Craig and his co-stars, Monica Belluci and Lea Seydoux.
CBFC chief Pahlaj Nihalani was unavailable for comment. But sources close to him said the kissing content was reduced because the certification was U/A which allowed for the film to be screened to a wider theatrical audience and on TV.
“We have to be careful with films that get U/A certificate because they can be shown on TV and to all audiences following parental guidance. The producers have accepted the cuts,” the source said. Censor Board sources also said that the producers had asked for the edits.
However, social media had a field day with #SanskariJamesBond and #Censor Board trending on twitter. The move comes just days after Nihalani released a video in praise of PM Modi.
Board member Ashoke Pandit tweeted his disapproval of the way in which the movie was cleared and described it as a “mockery of the freedom of the filmmaker” and slammed Nihalani for behaving as an official spokesperson for the BJP.
He tweeted, “Pahlaj Nihalani has always functioned on his own accord and I don’t subscribe to his curtailing of creative rights…. Spectre is an internationally applauded film, but again Pahalaj Nihalani messes it up by shading it with his own thought process. Nihalani’s action should not be a reflection of my choices. I feel it’s a mockery of the freedom of a filmmaker…Nihalani as chairman of the censor Board can’t behave like an official spokesperson of a political party.”
He added, “Just because I didn’t succumb to Nihalani’s likes and dislikes, I’ve never been called to see a film in the revising committee.”
The Twiteratti were merciless towards the Board. “Censor Board is clear. Make in India? Good, good. Make out in India? Never,” tweeted Ramesh Srivats while director Shirish Kunder said, “James Bond’s women must be feeling so safe now that our Censor Board is there to protect their izzat and aabroo from that creep.”
The film directed by Sam Mendes also stars Christopher Waltz and Naomi Harris. The Board also asked for profanities to be removed.
