Subhash K Jha (DNA; May 19, 2016)


Says a source, “They asked for a scene showing Veerappan killing his baby, to be toned down. The shot of the baby being battered on a rock was asked to be removed and replaced by appropriate music.” All references to V Prabhakaran, the LTTE chief, have been asked to be removed. Says the source, “Even here, the board members were easy on Ramu’s film. After Shoojit Sircar’s Madras Café all references to the LTTE chief have been put on the censors’ extra-caution list. There was a lot of protests from Tamil groups about Parabhakaran in Madras Café. However, the censor board was again, very accommodating with Veerappan. They only asked a line about the assassination of Rajiv Gandhi to be modified.”

Surprised by the liberal view taken of the violent and controversial outlaw’s bio-pic, director Ram Gopal Varma rushed off an appreciative text to censor chief Pahlaj Nihalni for a job well done. Says Sachiin Joshi, “We expected the censors to be difficult with our film. It is a controversial subject and a violent film. But the board members saw the violence within the given context. We were told to make only two major cuts which we happily accommodated. In fact, the censor team was very helpful, telling us how to make the required changes.”