8 Times When Censor Board Amused Us With Their Ridiculous Decisions

So Udta Punjab has finally triumphed over the Central Board of Film Certification’s (CBFC, commonly referred to as the Censor Board) absurdities, which apparently first demanded for the film to be banned and later decided to clear the film provided the makers settle for the suggested 89 cuts, including the removal of the word ‘Punjab’ from the film.

Much to the Censor Board chief Pahlaj Nihalani’s dismay, after the Bombay High Court’s verdict, the Shahid Kapoor starrer will now be released with just ONE cut and an ‘A’ certification. Hurrah!

However, this is not the only film suffered under the ‘Indian Sanskari Scissorhands’ aka CBFC.

From branding a children’s film ‘too scary’ to stating reasons as lame as ‘Kissing scenes are too long’… The bizarre decisions made by Censor Board in recent times have made us facepalm real hard.

Here are some ridiculous censor board decisions of recent times… Click the Movie button below for more info:
Udta Punjab

‘Objectionable content’—Haraamkhor

The Nawazuddin Siddiqui starrer Haraamkhor is next on the Censor Board’s radar. The indie drama, which is already creating a buzz at the festival circuit, is supposedly stalled by the CBFC for its objectionable content. So what’s so objectionable in the film?Well,it depicts an illicit relationship between a 14-year-old girl and her tuition teacher in a small town. The board feels that the movie theme is not acceptable and shows teachers, who are respectable personalities in the society,in a bad light. Tch, tch! How dare we show such scandalous content on our screens! Click the Movie button below for more info:
Haraamkhor

‘Too scary for kids’—The Jungle Book

One never thought that a Disney film could be labelled as scary. But trust our Censor Board to do the unbelievable. Censor board chief Pahlaj Nihalani gave The Jungle Book a U/A certificate as he thought that the jungle animals jumping at the audiences in 3D weretoo scary for children. Click the Movie button below for more info:
The Jungle Book

‘Pictures of Goddess Kali are objectionable’ — Angry Indian Goddesses

A film that won international accolades was thought to be ridiculing Indian Gods by our great members of the Censor Board, so they sharpened their scissors and made some ridiculous cuts in the film. What’s more, they even blurred every single image of the Goddess Kali in the film stating that it looked as if the makers were comparing the women in the film to the goddess, and it was unfit for the Indian audiences. Hey bhagwan! Click the Movie button below for more info:
Angry Indian Goddesses

‘150 cuts to get an A certificate’

If a few kisses can’t get past the censor board’s moralistic scanner, an adult sex comedy like Kya Kool Hai Hum 3, obviously wasn’t going to get spared by the censor scissors. However, what’s baffling is the fact that another sex comedy of the same genre Mastizaade was passed without a single cut, whereas the board demanded not a few but as many as 150 cuts for Kya Kool Hai Hum 3 to secure an A certificate. Mind-boggling ain’t it? Click the Movie button below for more info:
Kyaa Kool Hain Hum 3

‘Blur The Bra’— Queen

So, as per the Indian sanskriti and sabhyata we don’t talk lingerie or see lingerie in public. It’s a big no-no, at least, that’s what the censor board members guarding our culture believe. Recently, in the thick of the Udta Punjab controversy, the Queen actor Kangana Ranaut revealed that the Censor Board had asked the makers of her film to blur a scene where a bra was lying on the bed. Click the Movie button below for more info:
Queen

‘Kissing Can’t Be For So Long’—Spectre,Tamasha, Do Lafzon Ki Kahani… and many more.

There was a time when Aamir Khan locked his lips with Karisma Kapoor in the film Raja Hindustani for 7 minutes, but an on-screen kiss today can’t last for more than few seconds. Why? Well, all thanks to the diktat set by the CBFC for an on-screen lip lock. In last one year, not one, but several Bollywood and international films like Spectre, Tamasha, Do Lafzon Ki Kahani etc.had to suffer some major cuts as the kissing scenes in all these films were deemed to be too long and were demanded to be shortened or cut instantly.

Click the Movie button below for more info:
Do Lafzon Ki Kahani

‘Virgin is Vulgar’— Finding Fanny

While cuss words are a taboo in films as per the CBFC norms, even words like ‘Virgin’ are considered offensive by the board. The director of Finding Fanny, Homi Adajania, was asked to delete a dialogue from his film where Deepika Padukone’s character says – “I am a virgin”, as the board found the word to be vulgar. However, after a constructive argument, the board let the line stay in the film. Click the Movie button below for more info:
Finding Fanny

‘Dozing off in court in films is contempt of the court’ — Aligarh

Firstly, the board gave the film based on a real-life incident and A certificate only because it deals with homosexuality. And then it further added to its foolishness by demanding cuts of scenes where the lead character in the film dozes off during a court proceeding as it amounts to contempt of the court. Yeah, contempt of the court in a film scene. Facepalm! Click the Movie button below for more info:
Aligarh