- Sunday, October 01, 2023
By: Murtuza Nullwala
Indian Central Board of Film Certification is a body that certifies a film on the basis of its content. A film either gets an ‘A’, ‘U/A’ or ‘U’ certificate from CBFC. Central Board of Film Certification also asks the filmmakers to make a few changes in the film to get a particular certificate. While some filmmakers agree to it, some have fights with CBFC to get a release with the cuts.
Not many films happily get certification from the board. Today, let’s look at the films that faced issues with CBFC.
Bandit Queen
Shekhar Kapur’s Bandit Queen is one of the best films made on bandits in Bollywood. The film received many awards including National Award for Best Hindi Feature Film and Seema Biswas got National Award for Best Actress. But before its theatrical release in India, the movie faced a lot of issues with CBFC because of nudity and a rape sequence in the film. The movie was made in 1994 and finally, in 1996 it was released in India.
Paanch
Anurag Kashyap’s first directorial Paanch is yet to hit the screens. Yes, you read it right. Kashyap is a well-known filmmaker, but his first film never saw the light of the day because of CBFC. The board didn’t certify the film because of the violence, the depiction of drug abuse and bad language in the film. However, Paanch was screened at many film festivals.
Black Friday
Paanch is not the only film of Anurag Kashyap that faced issues with the CBFC. The director’s Black Friday which was based on 1993 Bombay bombings. Made in 2005, the film finally hit the screens in 2007 as CBFC had banned the movie due to the ongoing case revolving around the bombings.
Unfreedom
Director Raj Amit Kumar’s Unfreedom didn’t get a theatrical release in India as CBFC objected certain lovemaking scenes and nudity in the film. Later, the movie was released in North America. The movie was based on the backdrop of homosexuality and Islamic terrorism.
Udta Punjab
CBFC had ordered around 90 cuts in Shahid Kapoor, Alia Bhatt, Kareena Kapoor Khan, and Diljit Dosanjh starrer Udta Punjab. Of course, the makers were not keen on releasing their film with so many cuts. After a lot of legal tussles, finally, Bombay High Court ordered the film’s release with just one cut.
Lipstick Under My Burkha
CBFC gave a very silly reason to ban Konkona Sensharma and Ratna Pathak Shah starrer Lipstick Under My Burkha. The board said it is a ‘too lady oriented film’ because of which they cannot certify it. Like really! However, finally, the Film Certification Appellate Tribunal cleared the movie with an ‘A’ certificate.
Padmaavat
We all know that Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s Padmaavat faced a lot of issues from the religious political groups. Well, the makers showed the film to a few journalists before the certification and CBFC felt that it was a wrong move. Finally, the movie was certified and the makers were told to change the titled from Padmavati to Padmaavat.
