Bharati Dubey (MID-DAY; February 3, 2015)

The newly constituted Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) has claimed its first casualty with the Amitabh Bachchan-starrer Shamitabh undergoing several cuts for using expletives. A source says, “Some dialogues were peppered with abusive words such as m******* d and b******* d. So, the board’s examining committee has asked the makers to replace them with other words before issuing them a U/A certificate for the film.”

Apart from the swear words, the censor board members are said to have taken objection to three scenes, including one in which Dhanush is in a graveyard and another where he shows the middle finger. The film’s director, R Balki, however, did not seem perturbed about the snip job. “We had a very good screening for the Censor Board and are happy with the U/A certificate,” he says.

The new CBFC chief Pankaj Nihalani had sent out a diktat to all regional officers across the country on the categorisation of certificates for films using cuss words, though he has told hitlist that cuss words wouldn’t be cleared by the CBFC. If har** z** a (a child born out of wedlock) is used more than once, the film concerned is put in the U/A category while har** kh** gets the film a U category, but only if it is used for someone who is an idiot.

Ch*** ya also falls in U/ A category and is acceptable if used by the villain. If almost all cuss words are passed, then the film is given an ‘A’ certificate — unlike in the ’ 90s when Mahesh Bhatt’s Zakhm was certified as A-rated for using har** z** a.