UPA was sanskari too! Government lists 40 films cleansed of cuss words, intimate scenes during 2013-14

NEW DELHI: The censor board was " sanskari'' under the UPA regime too, says the government. The information and broadcasting (I&B) ministry sources on Wednesday listed out about 40 films cleared under the previous government's tenure where cuss words and intimate scenes were cut by the censor board.

The board and its chief Pahlaj Nihalani have come under fire recently for trimming kissing scenes and deleting cuss words in the latest James Bond film Spectre. The move was slammed on social media with the hashtag #SanskariJamesBond trending on twitter. A documentary made by Nihalani praising PM Narendra Modi did not go down well with the government either.

I&B ministry sources said that the CBFC had imposed cuts on nudity, intimate scenes and cuss words in 2013-2014 before the present board was appointed by the BJP government. Cuss words, intimate scenes, nudity were chopped off from several films like Murder-3, Ghanchakkar, Megamind, Robocop, Queen, Ragini MMS-2, Hate Story 2, Humpty Sharma Ki Dulhania, Highway among a series of others, officials said. They also pointed out that over 2,000 films had been cleared by the present CBFC with no films pending for certification.

Despite these numbers the ministry appears keen to ensure that the board's decision-making powers are streamlined and not based on personal whims and fancies. I&B minister of state Rajyavardhan Rathore had earlier said that the CBFC should work as a "certification'' body rather than a censorship one.

Sources said that the ministry was keen on putting the certification process online to reduce personal interface. "There will be no meetings and the dates for screening will be generated by the software. The filmmaker will get the certification according to the film's suitability. If he is unhappy with the certification he has a choice to change the film's scenes or dialogues and apply again. The CBFC will not suggest or recommend any cuts. It may be frustrating for the film's director and producer but you can't have your cake and eat it too,'' the source said.