MUMBAI: In a bid to curb violence and vulgarity in films, the Censor Board of Film Certification (CBFC) in India passed an order to completely edit “offensive scenes” instead of blurring them.
Another passed order says that beeping of expletives will be done away with and the scene will instead be muted when an offensive word is spoken.
In an interview with the Mirror, Indian censor board CEO Rakesh Kumar said, "Blurring toh bilkul nahin chalega[is not acceptable]. And if there are gaalis [expletives], a 'U' certificate will only be given if the objectionable part is muted in its entirety. Cuss words become obvious if beeped out."
This move comes after a frontal nudity scene in recent film Koyelaanchal and an intimate scene between Arshad Warsi and Huma Qureshi in Dedh Ishqiya.
A source told the Indian publication that, “[The] CBFC received a lot of flak for these two scenes." It was also reported that after these scenes, the board snipped out scenes including one from upcoming Salman Khan-Jacqueline Fernandez starrer Kick.
The violence in a recently released film starring Shradda Kapoor was also toned down, as were scenes of Randeep Hooda hitting Alia Bhatt in Imtiaz Ali's Highway.
According to the Mirror, the CBFC is now taking steps to ensure that violence against women and children committing crimes is not highlighted.
In an effort to do so, the source said every single member of the CBFC will sit for screenings in rotation. "Earlier, only select members were invited to screenings which lead to accusations of bias towards certain bigwigs. But now, every one of the 150 members will get his chance to vote,” the source said. Rakesh said, "We are trying our best to do a fair job."
The Indian film censor board is often criticised for censoring creative content. Interestinly enough, to celebrate 100 years of Indian cinema, the board is contemplating a festival in Mumbai to showcase censored movie scenes!
A member of the censor board confirmed to Times of India that a planning meeting had taken place regarding a three-day festival to screw censored content.
