Mirror was the first to report (March 26) that the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) had objected against certain scenes in Shonali Bose's Margarita, With a Straw.

The censors wanted a shot showing the lead character peeing cut, and a 13-second kissing scene between Kalki and her lesbian lover removed from the film which is about a woman with cerebral palsy coming to terms with her queer sexuality.

But in a welcome move, the film has now got a clean chit from the CBFC's Revising Committee. “We've come out with only a single cut!“ says an elated Shonali, adding “I feel like a wife who's beaten up everyday by the husband. Then, on the rare day when she is slapped just once, it becomes a moment of celebration!“ However, the director is not happy with the Revising Committee shortening a 16-second scene involving a straight couple having sex. Shonali was asked to tone it down by “50 percent“ because, to quote a Board member, “too much ho raha hai“. The makers had to take a decision right away or else go to the Tribunal. “With the release scheduled for April 17, we didn't want to delay things and accepted the cut. Ideally, a filmmaker shouldn't be made to edit his or her film,“ points out Shonali.

What about sequences involving frontal-nudity? “We exercised self-censorship and submitted a version which didn't have those scenes. The Censor Board in India would have never let them go through. Overall, I'm pleased with the Revising Committee. It has shown remarkable maturity and my film is pretty much intact,“ applauds the director.