The many untold Censor tales

Ranjan Das Gupta

Goutam Ghose was having sleepless nights when his Antarjali Yatra faced problems with censors in the late 80s. The CBFC was refusing to give the film a certificate for exhibition at halls. Satyajit Ray, Mrinal Sen, Tapan Sinha and Asit Sen came to Goutam Ghose’s rescue.

They jointly protested against the censor move but never went into any direct conflict. The issue was solved amicably and no mud splattering took place between the respected directors and the CBFC.

The recent conflict regarding the CBFC denying a certificate of release to the film Lipstick Under Burkha has again highlighted the issue of censors not being liberal. After all conflicts between various filmmakers and the censor board is not a new story. It has been carrying on for ages.

The censor board has had differences of opinions with many filmmakers. Earlier, when government officials were chairmen of the censor board, they seldom understood problems pertaining to cinema. The appointments of Hrishikesh Mukherjee and Shakti Samanta as chairpersons eased the situation considerably. It was Vijay Anand who ushered a revolution in censor related activities with his knowledge and tenacity of purpose.

In 2002, Aparna Sen saw red when the regional censor board at Kolkata refused to allow Mr & Mrs Iyer to be screened. The censor committee members felt the film would disturb communal harmony. A frantic Aparna Sen called up CBFC chairman Vijay Anand. Unable to get through to him, she asked Shabana Azmi to intervene. Shabana Azmi spoke personally to Vijay Anand and requested him to intervene.

Vijay Anand assured Aparna Sen he would do his best after an interaction with her at outers Club, Bandra. He did not bow down to Aparna Sen’s dictates of censoring Mr & Mrs Iyer at Mumbai. Vijay Anand saw the film and using his special powers got it censored. The censoring was done at Kolkata. There was no hue and cry about this as Vijay Anand conducted the activity in tight secrecy without informing anything to the media. That he was upset with Aparna Sen for her ingratitude later is another story.

Conflicts between censor chairmen and film makers are no new issues. They have existed since ages. The last battle between Anurag Kashap and CBFC chairman Pahlaj Nihalani has only exposed the chinks in the clamor. It only shows how the films makers are indirectly trying to receive mileage from the controversy. This also focuses on the non reflexive, autocratic vision and way of functioning of the present censor board chairman, Pahalaj Nihalani.

When Sekhar Kapur went into an open battle of words with CBFC chairperson Asha Parekh regarding Bandit Queen in 1996, it was the swan song of decent protests. Sekhar Kapur felt his saga on Phoolan Devi was realistic. So certain untoward scenes went in pertinence with the film.

His own uncles Chetan, Dev and Vijay termed Bandit Queen an ugly film. Asha Parekh an actress was certainly not a fully equipped censor head like Hrishikesh Mukherjee or Shakti Samanta. In all fairness a director understands censor problems best as he faces them directly.

Asha Parekh protested to crudity in name of reality in Bandit Queen. Sholay, when refused screening certificate by CBFC, had G.P. Sippy and Shreeram Bohra rushing to Manoj Kumar. The censors felt Sholay projected excess of violence. Manoj Kumar personally took up the case with then I & B Minister Vidya Charan Shukla. He explained to the minister that the violence in Sholay was not to provoke destruction but was an integral part of the story. Vidya Charan Shukla saw reason and Sholay was censored for exhibition.

Raj Kapoor had a tough time explaining to censors that exposure of Mandakini’s breasts in Ram Teri Ganga Maili was not to titillate sexual instincts. It was a mother breast feeding her child. The master filmmaker that he was, Raj Kapoor was successful in convincing the censors and releasing the film without major cuts.