Death by a Thousand Cuts

CENSORSHIP IS ALIVE AND KICKING, JUDGING BY THE CHANGES THAT FILMS DEPICTING INCONVENIENT TRUTHS ARE BEING FORCED TO MAKE

- By Suhani Singh

When Ananth Mahadevan set out to make a straightforward biopic on the 19th century social reformers Jyotirao and Savitribai Phule, the first time it would be told in Hindi, little did he know he'd find himself in hot waters with the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC). The board's examining committee came up with a series of amendments, which included changing mentions of Mang, Mahar, Shudra and Kunbi to lower caste and tweaking a line from “teen hazaar saal puraani” (3,000 years old) to “kai saal puraani” (going back several years). Mahadevan was taken aback. “Just today I saw a headline in the Times of India which mentions Kunbis in big bold letters,” he said. “If you can allow that in other forms of communication, why not cinema?”

Phule’s certification woes began after a member of the Parshuram community landed at the CBFC office in Mumbai, worried that the film would project the Brahmins in a poor light. Mahadevan says he reassured the man that he shouldn't judge the film on the basis of the trailer and that his two-hour-plus drama, in fact, showed how the liberal Brahmins supported the couple's cause for education and donated funds to help them set up a school. “The CBFC’s logic [behind the changes] was that they endorsed the film and wanted every child to see it,” says Mahadevan. For that, the film needed a ‘U' certificate which would be granted only if the makers acceded to the changes. Mahadevan reluctantly agreed, to avoid a ‘U/A’ certification, which would restrict the film's audience.