#indian censor

#NSFW Post. Reader discretion is advised.

According to Deep Thought, the accurate answer to everything is 42.

1. On page 42 of Harry Potter & The Philosopher’s Stone, Harry Potter discovers he’s a wizard.

2. Elvis Presley died at the age of 42.

3. 42 is the average number of cuts a filmmaker has to make in order to get a clean chit and approval for release from the censor board.

All films that requires a display on big screens have to be certified by the Censor Board prior to release. Given the diaspora of the artists and audience, more than 1000 films are made per year.  It behoves us to think there must be a reasonable standard for censoring/certifying movies. Think again, my friend.

What warrants a cut in a movie?

Anything that falls within the spectrum of foul language, nudity (sexual & non-sexual, suggestive & full-frontal), smoking, drinking, innuendos, violence, bloodshed, gore etc, has to be chopped off from the film. The morality of the audience is top priority.

“Awesome! There’s no complaint then”

Wrong.

Filmmaking is a form of art. Any form of art needs to be sung/displayed/painted/performed the way the creator intended it to. Censoring a work of art mutilates the narrative. Anything that is sensual or sexual is considered inappropriate for the audience and therefore required to be removed from the film. Unfortunately, nudity falls under this category.

“But nudity IS inappropriate because it is sexual in nature”

Allow a self-proclaimed movie buff to explain why that assumption is wrong.

More so than often, a director uses nudity as a storytelling tool. It could be a narrative device for character development, progression of story, or both. A better description can be provided through a narrative used in Inglourious Basterds (2009).

Shoshanna aka Emmanuelle is summoned to a restaurant where she is introduced to Joeseph Goebbels. A minute later, she is introduced to his haughty French interpreter, Francesca Mondino. It’s a fascist regime under the Nazi, and the translator is quite high on style and exquisiteness. It almost feels like she doesn’t fit in. Judging from her looks, it is obvious that there is more to her than she lets on. The scene cuts to a 5 second juxtapose of Joeseph Goebbels having sex with the interpreter. There is suggestive nudity. Shoshanna’s imagination can be speculated as an answer to why the interpreter has the luxury to be seated alongside men who dance to the whims of Hitler.

How does this scene serve any purpose?

Cut to the scene before the climax of Inglourious Basterds. Joeseph Goebbels makes a Nazi propaganda film on the war exploits of Frederick Zoller, a German Sniper, who has killed over 250 soldiers. A delightful Hitler leans to his side and says this is Goebbels’ finest film so far. Goebbels is so overwhelmed with joy that he starts crying. As he tears up, Francesca Mondino places her hand on his shoulder. This implies that intimacy is a part of their relationship, a plot point that was established in the previously discussed scene.

To an average moviegoer, this might not make much sense. However, in terms of narratives and character development, scene#2 is incomplete without scene#1.

Every movie is a package. Even a 15 second cut could mutilate the story that the screenwriter/director originally intended to narrate.

“Kids should not be exposed to adult content “

Fair enough. Children tend to perceive everything at face value. They constantly see women washing dishes in advertisements and grow up to believe that women are born to do household chores.

On what basis is a scene deemed appropriate or inappropriate for children?

Discrepancies in Censorship

Discrepancy #1  

Baahubali 2: The Conclusion was released with U/A certificate(Parental guidance for children below the age of 12 years). Screens in Tamil Nadu censored a liplock scene between Bahubali and Devasena under the assumption that it was inappropriate for children. The same movie had scenes that showed beheading, impaling, and a slow motion sequence of a woman walking with a decapitated head. None of these scenes were censored for children. Violence and bloodshed is fine, but a consensual kiss is not. Noted with due diligence, Your Honour!

Discrepancy #2

The 2016 superhero movie, Deadpool, was released with an A certificate (Restricted to Adults), but the swear words were muted. There is a shot of the protagonist severing a head and kicks the head like a soccer player. The head is hurled at full force and injures another person. The violence is comedic in nature. Fans in India were not lucky enough to enjoy Deadpool in its full glory on the big screen.

Discrepancy #3 

Befikre (2016) was cleared by the Censor Board with U/A certification. The movie had several kissing scenes and one glimpse of Ranveer Singh’s bare ass. I’m not here to complain about Ranveer’s perfectly shaped ass, but I couldn’t help wonder how movie certifying in India is more complicated than Schrodinger’s equation.

Discrepancy #4 

The 2017 action adventure reboot The Mummy received A certification for release in Indian screens. The booking portal in cinema websites had a prompt that warned potential viewers that no one under the age of 18 would be allowed to watch The Mummy. In spite of this warning, a scene  was partially censored/blurred for a cinema hall full of adults. The scene shows a woman offering her soul through a ritual. She is shown to be undressed, albeit in angles that warrant for suggestive nudity.As she completes the ritual, writings are etched on her bare skin. 

An Objective Look at the Problem

Films released in Indian screens are certified under 4 categories. (Source - Wikipedia)

1. U (Unrestricted Public Exhibition - Films with the U certification are fit for unrestricted public exhibition, and are family friendly. These films can contain universal themes like education, family, drama, romance, sci-fi, action etc. Now, these films can also contain some mild violence, but it should not be prolonged. It may also contain very mild sexual scenes (without any traces of nudity or sexual detail).

2. U/A (Parental Guidance for children below the age of 12 years) - Films with the U/A certification can contain moderate adult themes, that are not strong in nature and can be watched by a child under parental guidance. These films can contain some strong violence, moderate sex (without any traces of nudity or sexual detail), frightening scenes and muted abusive and filthy language.

3. A (Restricted to Adults) - Films with the A certification are available for public exhibition, but with restriction to adults. These films can contain heavily strong violence, strong sex (but full frontal and rear nudity is not allowed usually), strong abusive language (but words which insults or degrades women are not allowed), and even some controversial and adult themes considered unsuitable for young viewers.

4. S (Restricted to any special class of persons)  - Films with S certification should not be viewed by the public. Only people associated with it (Engineers, Doctors, Scientists, etc.), have permission to watch those films.

For the sake of convenience, I am going to compare this with the certifying standards used by Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA). 

1. G (General Audiences) - Nothing that would offend parents for viewing by children

2. PG (Parental Guidance) - Parents urged to give 'parental guidance.' May contain some material parents might not like for their young children

3. PG-13 (Parents Strongly Cautioned) - Parents are urged to be cautious. Some material may be inappropriate for pre-teenagers

4. R (Restricted) - Contains some adult material. Parents are urged to learn more about the film before taking their young children with them.

5. NC-17 (Adults Only) - Clearly adult. Children are not admitted.

“Alright. Every country has its own certification standards. I don’t see the problem.”

The Jungle Book (2016) is an animated film primarily targeted at a family audience. Due to the near-realistic motion capture technology, tigers and snakes look close to the real deal. Shere Khan the Tiger has burn scars on his face. He attempts to pounce at Mowgli, creating a jump-scare moment. A huge menacing snake intimidates the kid. As a result, the movie received a PG rating in the U.S for intense and frightening sequences.

Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice (2016) contained scary sequences too. A dream sequence involves a demonic creature breaking out a tombstone and grabbing Bruce Wayne by his torso. There are several other scenes that are slightly eerie in nature. The theatrical version received a PG-13 rating in the U.S for sequences of violence and action throughout, and some sensuality.(The extended/ultimate edition received a R rating)

Despite the fact that The Jungle Book and Batman V Superman were not intended for the same audience, both movies received U/A certification for release in India. To fit into the U/A category, few shots were blurred or cut prior to release in India.

Unless the current certifying categories are expanded, it will be difficult for both filmmakers and the audience to relish a movie in its true form.

“Scenes that are sexual in nature can have an effect on youth”

So can scenes that glorify stalking or objectification of women and ‘educate the audience’ that it is an accepted norm in society. We have incessant smoking and drinking disclaimers for films but the audience is yet to see a disclaimer that says ‘Stalking is injurious to society and punishable by law’.

“Oh for crying out loud, we cannot have a disclaimer for everything immoral”

Doctor Strange (2016), a superhero origin story, starts with a neurosurgeon who drives recklessly and ends up in a major accident that later gives him the chance to be a superhero. One could argue the film was trying to tell everyone that reckless driving is totally fine. The studio decided to go out on a limb and display a disclaimer during the end credits, even if they really didn’t have to.

As you can see, there is responsible filmmaking and then there is responsible-for-the-sake-of-being-responsible censorship. 

“Sensual scenes can create unwanted urges”

An urge is natural. How one acts upon that urge matters more. A scene involving a mouth-watering chocolate cake can create an urge, but you don’t satisfy the urge by grabbing chocolate cake from another person’s plate without their consent. It’s not that hard of an analogy. Go figure!

I can’t end this post without addressing the elephant in the room, especially if the elephant takes up 30% of the room. A major reason for every movie producer vying to get ‘U’ certification is the tax exemption of 30%. This might be an unpopular opinion but IMHO, a tax exemption for U certification makes no sense at all.

It’s a TL;DR post already and I am pretty sure a lot of people haven’t resumed reading after Ranveer’s ass!