Clip the cleavage

Mohar Basu (MID-DAY; July 8, 2024)

S Shankar’s Indian 2 seems to be the latest film subjected to the Central Board of Film Certification’s (CBFC) snip-happy attitude. Only recently, it was reported that the CBFC granted a ‘U/A’ certificate to the Kamal Haasan-starrer after suggesting several changes. Among the changes directed was the removal of a shot of a woman’s bust.

The scene in question apparently arrives at the 34th minute of the vigilante drama. A unit member of the movie told mid-day, “It is a small change, but why are movies at the receiving end of such needless changes? To snip a shot or beep out abuses is just an attempt to sanitize cinema. This shows the ongoing debate between preserving traditional values and allowing artistic expression.” The other modifications reportedly include removing the label ‘Bribe market’ in a scene and replacing seven expletives. 

The sequel to Shankar’s Indian (1996) takes the story of Haasan’s character Senapathy forward, as the aged freedom fighter-turned-vigilante resurfaces to battle corruption and social injustice. Siddharth, Rakul Preet Singh and Kajal Aggarwal also star in the action fare that will be released in Tamil, Telugu and Hindi.