To certify or to censor? That is the question

The entire nation is debating over the controversy and politicisation surrounding Bollywood film Udta Punjab, which the CBFC has refused to certify unless the filmmakers facilitate around 89 cuts in it. Consequently, several B’town celebrities are raising their voice against the board, that has led to the topic being blown out of proportion.

Tamil cinema hasn’t been far behind, when it comes to such issues — many Kollywood films have come under the censors’ knives, including Kamal’s Vishwaroopam, Karthi’s Komban, Leena Manimekalai’s indie film Sengadal and some like Kuttrapatthirigai on the Rajiv Gandhi killing and the recent Metro, were denied certification.

“There’s no liberty to portray your creative thoughts here, and we are losing our identity. Any filmmaker’s creative freedom is curtailed because of the censor board’s odd rules and regulations,” remarked award-winning filmmaker Mysshkin recently on the RCB, clearly upset with the way the board functions.

Kamal Haasan’s Vishwaroopam  ran into trouble in Tamil Nadu and faced angry outbursts from Muslim groups over his portrayal of the community as a terrorist in the film. His other film Utthama Villain was caught in problems with the Vishwa Hindu Parishad demanding for a ban! Unhappy with the rules and restrictions imposed on films by the Censor Board without understanding sensibilities, Kamal Haasan, actor/producer/filmmaker and presently a member of the censor reforming committee headed by Shyam Benegal, says, “They are actually a certification body. Unfortunately, they assume the role of censorship. Their guidelines stifle our freedom of expression.”

He adds, “Right now, this board is not called a censor board. They were given certain parameters — like, for this kind of certificate, you can have only these kinds of images. For an ‘Adults Only’ film you can have explicit content, etc.  But there is an other kind of final ‘cultural censor’ angle, which limits us!”

Similarly, two of Ilayathalapathy Vijay’s movies Thalaiva and Kaththi were dragged into controversies — the former faced problems from lesser-known organisations and had a delayed release, while the latter was to do with issues concerning the producers name, as he was said to be a close aide of Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa.

SP Charan’s Aaranya Kaandam, which was critically acclaimed  and even fetched a National Award for its debut director Thiagarajan Kumararaja, came under the censor’s scanner after the Regional Censor Board gave it an ‘A’ rating after inflicting 52 cuts upon it. Charan had told DC then that chopping important scenes would take away the sheen of the script. An appellate tribunal in New Delhi later cleared the film.

Kuttrapatthirigai (Charge Sheet) was completed in 1992 under RK Selvamani’s direction. It was set against the backdrop of late Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi’s assassination and the Sri Lankan civil war. After languishing for 13 years because of the Censor Board’s refusal, a butchered version of the film was finally released in March 2007.

More recently, Karthi’s Komban had problems with Puthiya Thamizhagam president K Krishnasamy, who objected to the release of the film and wanted it banned, since he alleged it would lead to caste clashes between scheduled castes and the Thevar community in southern districts of Tamil Nadu. Sohan Roy’s directorial venture, the multilingual Dam 999 was banned in Tamil Nadu on the grounds that the film based on the Mullai Periyar Dam, when released, would disturb the cordial relationship between Tamil Nadu and Kerala.

Yet another striking example is that of Sengadal, a film by actress/filmmaker Leena Manimekalai, which dealt with the plight of Tamil fishermen who fled a war-ravaged Sri Lanka and took refuge in India.

The Regional Censor Board initially banned the movie — and then after several months of legal struggle with the Appellate Tribunal Authorities at New Delhi — the CBFC cleared the film without any cuts, but with an Adult certification.