Censor stops screening of S### Durga

Objects to 'Boxes' in new title

Controversy refused to take a back seat even on the very last day of IFFI.

In the latest twist, the Censor Board, at the eleventh hour, ordered a re- examination of the controversial film "S Durga", thereby jeopardising its court-ordered screening at Goa.

The Censor Board has primarily objected to the "boxes" used in the altered title which it feels is an exercise in camouflage -- the director is seen to be masking the letters e-x-y in the original title ‘Sexy Durga’.

According to the board, the title card of the movie says "S### Durga," which "has totally different implications and effectively undermines the very basis of title registration.’’

Director Sanal Kumar Sasidharan cried foul, saying the government wanted this to happen and it is contempt of court. “They are trying to suppress our voice. With this ongoing bias against us, our

film is not ''Sexy Durga'' anymore. It is ''Sexy Democracy'',” said Sasidharan.

“This is also a clear intrusion into artistic freedom. This dispensation is becoming more rigid by the day,” he charged. Sasidharan and the film's actor Kannan Nayar staged a token protest near the IFFI screening facility but only drew media attention. S Durga, which tells the story of a couple on a deserted highway at night, was dropped from IFFI 2017 by the Information and Broadcasting Ministry, prompting festival jury chief Sujoy Ghosh and two other members to quit.

Following this, Sasidharan approached the Kerala High Court and got an order which said: "The certified version of the film 'S Durga' will be viewed by the jury and on that basis, the film will be exhibited in the Indian Panorama of the IFFI."The movie was watched on Monday night by a reconstituted jury, and on Tuesday, with just a few hours left for the closing ceremony, the Censor Board ordered it should not be screened until it was "re-examined".

The order essentially means the film may even miss the date with the International Film Festival of Kerala, where it is scheduled for screening next month; so, the new flashpoint could be God’s own country.