Director hurt over ‘AIG’ censor chop
As many as 16 cuts demanded in Pan Nalin’s female buddy movie
With the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) demanding as many as 16 cuts in Pan Nalin’s Angry Indian Goddesses, the filmmaker says he is unhappy with the decision.
The film reportedly invoked the wrath of the censor board, headed by Pahlaj Nihalani, for showing images of Hindu deities and for using certain words like adivasi (tribal person), sarkar (chief) and “Indian figure”.
Nihalani was recently in the news for cutting short kissing scenes in James Bond film Spectre
“I am super sad and hurt because we have used completely respectful images of [female deity] Kali in the film, but we had to blur them out. I have grown up watching gods and goddesses all my life Sunny Leone and Tusshar Kapoor in Mastizaade. in films... We cut people’s head in films, and suddenly we have to remove images of the goddesses,” Nalin said.
Angry Indian Goddesses, which is touted as India’s first ‘female buddy’ film, features an ensemble cast of Sarah-Jane Dias, Tannishtha Chatterjee, Anushka Manchanda, Sandhya Mridul, Rajshri Deshpande and Adil Hussain among others.
Singer and former video jockey Manchanda, who is making her acting debut with the film, said that “we don’t live in a democracy, but we live in a hypocrisy”.
“It holds true for many things, not just the censor board. It’s the way we run this country. We are more worried about what other people think rather than living our own lives,” Manchanda added.
Nalin added: “Even if the film was never released here, it would find its way to come as it’s releasing in so many countries, almost everywhere in the world, uncut.”.
“Even Egypt is releasing it uncut,” he added. —