Indian censors more worried about Lankan film than Lanka’s own

NEW DELHI: Can a docu-drama aired in Sri Lanka be banned in India on grounds it may sour relations with the island nation? The censor board says yes, but the Film Certification Appellate Tribunal (FCAT) says: Of course not.

And so, Muttrupulliyaa, a film about the treatment of Tamils by the Sri Lankan Army after the civil war ended in 2009 got the green light from FCAT, which overturned the censor board’s refusal to give it a certificate for Indian screenings. “In case the film would...affect the relationship with a neighbouring country, the Public Performance Board of Sri Lanka would have not approved it for screening during the Jaffna International Cinema Festival,” said FCAT members Bina Gupta and Shekhar Iyer.

Several of the film’s scenes contain imagery of alleged atrocities committed by the Sri Lankan Army. It premiered in Colombo at the Jaffna International Film Festival in September 2015

When time came to air the movie in India, Sherine Xavier, its Lankan Tamil director, was surprised to hear it was too contentious. The film, said the censor board, was “glorifying the bad effects” of war. “The picture will affect the neighbouring country relations. It also refers to real political leaders of Sri Lanka,” it said. The only reference to India in the order is: “It also refers to LTTE, which is a banned organisation in India.”

Appealing before the FCAT through lawyer Satyajit

Sarna, the film’s producer TS Subramaniam recently received relief.

The FCAT imposed conditions — appellants must morph LTTE flags and its leaders’ photographs. They must also reduce scenes depicting girls using drugs, and issue a disclaimer the film is a fictional representation of real events. The Censor Board in the past has come under fire for its stringent guidelines, but NLS Professor Shamnad Basheer said this order proved that “we are indeed living in the land of Yoga to go to such a stretch”