NH10 finally cleared with adult certificate and minimal cuts
8:15 AM
Roshmilla Bhattacharya (MUMBAI MIRROR; March 5, 2015)
Mirror (March 3) had earlier reported about a split in the Examining
Committee of the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) over the
Anushka Sharma starrer, NH10, and its possible certification. After a
screening on Monday, some members were ready to pass the film with a few
cuts and an Adult certificate while others maintained that film had
plenty of violence and abusive language, and shouldn't be certified at
all.
Following this, the producers took the film to the Revising Committee who watched the film on Wednesday and cleared it with an 'A" certificate. "NH10 has been passed with a few audio cuts and a video cut that does not damage the film at all. They saw it completely in context and even appreciated it. It was a very reassuring revising committee," said Anurag Kashyap, who has co-produced the film with Anushka.
His business partner, Vikas Bahl, was equally jubilant. "The RC's decision was unanimous. They understood what we were talking about and saw the larger picture," he said. "Even the visual cut was minimal. The scene was retained, we were just told to edit it a bit. And many of the cuss words too have been retained." This decision has gladdened not only the film's makers but the film fraternity too. The development comes after the February 26 meeting of the Minister of State for I & B, Rajyavardhan Rathore with a Bollywood contingent, which included Anurag Kashyap, Mukesh Bhatt and Siddharth Roy Kapur. They were told by the minister to "ignore" CBFC Chairperson Pahlaj Nihalani's order banning the use of certain cuss words and expressions.
The chief's diktat also banned glorification of blood, violence against women and double meaning dialogue. NH10 is the story of a woman's revenge, is peppered with expletives and gore. CBFC CEO, Shravan Kumar, points out that the idea is to disseminate information through the process of certification to a cinema loving population about the film's content so it will facilitate the choices they make. "The idea is not to curb the creative freedom of the filmmaker," he maintained.
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The Censor Board's revising committee granted an adult certificate to Anushka Sharma's first home production 'NH10' on Wednesday, effecting nine cuts in all.
The screening chaired by Board chief Pahlaj Nihalani told the makers that he was being "liberal" with the certification as it dealt with an important subject of women empowerment, says the film's director, Navdeep Singh.
"Initially, they asked for 30 audio and video cuts, but we justified our position and the cuts came down to nine. There was an argument over the word kutti which I insisted on retaining, but Mr Nihalani just didn't agree, so we decided to comply as we don't have the time to take the film to a higher forum," he adds Navdeep states he has no issues with an 'A' certificate. "We knew it was coming the day we started the film," he says.
The film as submitted to the Board last week, but the examining committee saw it only on Monday. A source says, "Three members on the panel objected to the violence, more than the cuss words, arguing it was unfit for public viewing. Two others were willing to clear the film with an 'A' certificate with a few cuts."
Given this deadlock, the producers then took the film to the revising committee, which finally cleared it today. It was initially planned for a March 6 release to pre-empt the problem of having issues of cuss words which could have landed them in trouble with the Censor Board. Its trailer has not been screened on television for as its content has been adult-certified too.
The film is based on a young couple, Anushka and Neil Bhoopalam, whose road trip goes awry after an encounter with a group of violent criminals. Darshan Kumar will be seen in a negative role.
Following this, the producers took the film to the Revising Committee who watched the film on Wednesday and cleared it with an 'A" certificate. "NH10 has been passed with a few audio cuts and a video cut that does not damage the film at all. They saw it completely in context and even appreciated it. It was a very reassuring revising committee," said Anurag Kashyap, who has co-produced the film with Anushka.
His business partner, Vikas Bahl, was equally jubilant. "The RC's decision was unanimous. They understood what we were talking about and saw the larger picture," he said. "Even the visual cut was minimal. The scene was retained, we were just told to edit it a bit. And many of the cuss words too have been retained." This decision has gladdened not only the film's makers but the film fraternity too. The development comes after the February 26 meeting of the Minister of State for I & B, Rajyavardhan Rathore with a Bollywood contingent, which included Anurag Kashyap, Mukesh Bhatt and Siddharth Roy Kapur. They were told by the minister to "ignore" CBFC Chairperson Pahlaj Nihalani's order banning the use of certain cuss words and expressions.
The chief's diktat also banned glorification of blood, violence against women and double meaning dialogue. NH10 is the story of a woman's revenge, is peppered with expletives and gore. CBFC CEO, Shravan Kumar, points out that the idea is to disseminate information through the process of certification to a cinema loving population about the film's content so it will facilitate the choices they make. "The idea is not to curb the creative freedom of the filmmaker," he maintained.
------------------
The Censor Board's revising committee granted an adult certificate to Anushka Sharma's first home production 'NH10' on Wednesday, effecting nine cuts in all.
The screening chaired by Board chief Pahlaj Nihalani told the makers that he was being "liberal" with the certification as it dealt with an important subject of women empowerment, says the film's director, Navdeep Singh.
"Initially, they asked for 30 audio and video cuts, but we justified our position and the cuts came down to nine. There was an argument over the word kutti which I insisted on retaining, but Mr Nihalani just didn't agree, so we decided to comply as we don't have the time to take the film to a higher forum," he adds Navdeep states he has no issues with an 'A' certificate. "We knew it was coming the day we started the film," he says.
The film as submitted to the Board last week, but the examining committee saw it only on Monday. A source says, "Three members on the panel objected to the violence, more than the cuss words, arguing it was unfit for public viewing. Two others were willing to clear the film with an 'A' certificate with a few cuts."
Given this deadlock, the producers then took the film to the revising committee, which finally cleared it today. It was initially planned for a March 6 release to pre-empt the problem of having issues of cuss words which could have landed them in trouble with the Censor Board. Its trailer has not been screened on television for as its content has been adult-certified too.
The film is based on a young couple, Anushka and Neil Bhoopalam, whose road trip goes awry after an encounter with a group of violent criminals. Darshan Kumar will be seen in a negative role.
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