Films that might never be released in India thanks to the CBFC

In recent times the CBFC Central Board of Film Certification has often been found on the wrong side of the news for holding up the release of multiple films The independent body is responsible for reviewing every film before its release and granting an appropriate censor certificate However the board has lately been accused of causing roadblocks in the release of films with unusual and unexplained delays in issuing certificatesSome weeks ago filmmaker Nikkhil Advani issued an official statement about his upcoming film lsquoVedaarsquo starring John Abraham and Sharvari facing an lsquounusual delayrsquo caused by the CBFC The filmmaker while talking to Midday claimed he was lsquoghostedrsquo by the board after they submitted the film well in advance for screeningWhile lsquoVedaarsquo has now received a clearance with a UA certificate their window for promotions was reduced by half which can possibly have an impact on the release of the film as it is being released on a crowded weekend the Independence Day weekend has multiple films across India scheduled for releaseOf late some other films have also faced unprecedented delays without much explanation by the CBFCPunjab lsquo95One of the films which have been a victim of CBFCrsquos delays is lsquoPunjab rsquo95rsquo directed by Honey Trehan and starring Diljit Dosanjh The film is based on the life of Punjabbased activist Jaswant Singh Khalra The film produced by RSVP was submitted to the censor board way back in December 2022 The team is still awaiting clearance from the board After the first round of censoring the makers were asked to make 21 cuts which the makers challenged This led to a delay in the certification process and eventually the removal of the film from festivals like Toronto International Film Festival TIFF London Film Festival and MAMIA source close to the film told middaycom that the makers were later asked to make 35 cuts which then went up to 42 and finally 65 The makers obliged the demands made by the board and presented the film with all the cuts At the time the country was preparing for the Lok Sabha elections The board asked the makers to wait until the elections were over to release the film owing to the sensitive nature of the storyHowever post the elections everything went quiet on the censor front The source added that a new revising committee was set up after the elections who viewed the film with the 65 cuts mandated by the previous committeeldquoThey saw and okayed the changes and later said that censor board chief Prasoon Joshi would view the film after which a certificate would be issued This happened over 15 days ago and there has been pindrop silence since then They dont even acknowledge the presence of filmmakersrdquo the source revealedSo what is it that the CBFC does not wish for the audience to see in a film that is based on a reallife storyThe film has details that are not in the public domain says the source adding that the board demanded a change in the name of the protagonist as well as the filmrsquos title ldquoThe makers have been asked to not mention 1984 or Indira Gandhirsquos name in the filmrdquo the source shared The reason behind the decisions was not made clear to the makers especially when an upcoming film named lsquoEmergencyrsquo based on former PM Indira Gandhirsquos term has not faced similar objectionsThe source also informed that some of the members of CBFC liked the film and requested a copy of the original to show their kids ldquoSome CBFC members said that their hands are tied and they shared their sympathies with the makersrdquo shared the source The film was also watched by the Information and Broadcasting Ministry which is an unusual practiceBack in 2014 the makers who had then produced Udta Punjab had landed in trouble with the censor board However they had the option to fight and challenge the decisions by the CBFC in court ldquoIt is not the same today Back then there was an option to fight it in the courtrdquo said the source citing the change in political climate as one of the reasonsDespite all these levels of censoring the board has gone silent on the makers and refused to clear the film or underline the real reasons behind delaying the release of the filmMonkey ManDev Patelrsquos debut directorial lsquoMonkey Manrsquo with a primarily Indian cast opened to rave reviews globally earlier this year However the only country that has not greensignaled the release of the film is India as the film could not obtain a clearance from the censor boardThe film was supposed to hit the theatres on April 19 in India According to latest reports the board has avoided the screening of the film for its Examining Committee As per a report in The Hindu Universal Studios made a few changes in the original cut of the film by ldquoclipping scenes which sharply emphasized the nexus between religion and politicsrdquo The makers also changed the colour used in the political banners in many scenes in the film from saffron to redlsquoMonkey Manrsquo revolves around an underdog street fighter who ends up becoming a vigilante superhero Devs character fights against the mighty and the rich who oppress the downtrodden and are also responsible for his mothers death However his quest for vengeance takes an unexpected turn as he becomes a champion for the oppressed and powerlessRang De Basanti BhojpuriPrasoon Joshi was also accused of delaying the censor certificate for the Bhojpuri film lsquoRang De Basantirsquo The makers of the bigbudget film had accused the CBFC chief of deliberately delaying the film as it had the same title as that of Aamir Khanrsquos 2006 film Prasoon was associated with the 2006 film as a lyricist The film which was supposed to be released on March 22 was submitted for screening to the board on February 21 The team did not receive any response until March 6 after which they wrote a letter to the Board On March 8 they received a call from the board asking if they could change the name of the film The producer denied saying that they have already promoted the film with the name and all documents have that as the filmrsquos titleTalking to Bollywood Hungama producer Roshan Singh explained why he felt that Prasoon Joshi is deliberately targeting his film ldquoIn 2008 a Bhojpuri film Rang De Basanti Chola had already been released But Mr Prasoon wasnrsquot the chairperson then Interestingly another Bhojpuri film submitted for censor is Kabhi Khushi Kabhi Gam Its screening happened a day after Rang De Basantirsquos screening But since the chairperson wasnrsquot involved with the Hindi film of the same name he didnrsquot hold it It was passed on March 5rdquoMeanwhile Pahlaj Nihalani filmmaker and exCBFC chairperson and a vocal critic of the current chairperson told Bollywood Hungama that hersquos aware of this episode and said ldquoCBFC works only for the corporates It doesnrsquot care much for small Hindi or regional films If Rang De Basanti featured a big star CBFC 34 din mein certificate de detirdquoThe film starring Khesari Lal Yadav was finally given a clearance and released in theatres on June 7Middaycom contacted members of the CBFC for a comment on the topic but there hasnrsquot been any response so far This article will be updated once a statement is received