Since a long time, Indian cinemas were being censored on foul language and nudity- considering the huge impact cinema has in our country. A filmmaker has always been forced to be careful about the scenes involving obscenity, religious sentiments and each word used in a film because he knows the scissors of the censor awaits his creation. The questions on the relevance of the so-called Censor Board have surfaced once again with the recent rows over the certification of Bollywood film Udta Punjab, Malayalam films Kammatipaadam and Kathakali. Here, Onmanorama takes a look at 4 Malayalam movies that had to face the music:
Kathakali
Kathakali directed by Oscar Saijo Kannanaikkal has been denied certification due to a nude scene which features towards the climax of the film. He moved the High Court against the Censor Board recently and is awaiting a verdict on the petition.
Chayyam Poosiya Veedu
The CBFC’s regional office in Thiruvananthapuram denied permission to ‘Chayam Poosiya Veedu’, saying that the movie had shots of the female lead’s nudity. The movie could not be screened in many film festivals because of this. The directors went to the court, which rubbished the arguments of the board and directed it to give permission to the movie with an ‘A’ certificate. It was screened in 20th International Film festival of Kerala (IFFK).
Papilio Buddha
The film was denied certification by CBFC stating that the film had visuals and dialogues denigrating iconic leaders including Mahatma Gandhi, E. M. S. Namboodiripad and Ayyankali apart from visuals of extreme violence and extreme torture of women by police. The Censor Board had also taken exception to the language used in the film.
The film was denied a screening at the 17th International Film Festival of Kerala (IFFK) which created much controversies. Though the movie was initially banned in India and subsequently certified for theatrical distribution, Papilio Buddha had a world première at the 27th London Lesbian & Gay Film Festival organised by the British Film Institute.
Pithavinum Puthranum
The film, completed in 2012, was reportedly based on a book by Sister Jesme and the Sister Abhaya murder case. CBFC denied certification stating that the movie might hurt the religious sentiments of people.
