last month, Twitter was flooded with jokes mocking the decision of cutting major scenes by Central Board of Film Certification as the movie was scrunitised under the guidelines of CBFC. The latest entry in that leauge is Angry young Goddesses, the only movies having seven women as the lead. The film which may have received positive reviews by the people had t face many cuts and muted words despite being given the A certification.
“The larger problem is not the Central board, it is the way how we are approaching films. We view it as only a means of entertainment and they are treated in that way itself. They are not treated as transports of culture and reflection of society,” said infuriated Gaurav Dhingra, producer of the movie.
He added, “35 per cent of each ticket sale goes to the government, if continue to see films in this way then these issues are bound to happen.”
Dhingra seemed confused when he shared with us that he doesn’t understand the work of the film certcition. “Are we looking it as a body of film certification or is it a censorship bodyIJ I don’t seem to understand their modus operandi because if they want some changes then I think it should happen at the script level.”
He shared with us that as a producer it takes a lot of effort and money to produce a film. And, it is unfortunate that they ace cuts at a time when the movie is about to release. “The committee consists of government employees who may and may not have any information about the movies that we make. We are making feature films and four people cannot decide what 3.5 billion people want to see,” he opined.
We agreed with him when he said that independent films have an audience for them but the producer had expected something else than the cuts. “The movie has seven ladies in the lead and this movie should have been tax free so that people go and see it. We have made an honest film but being a small, independent producer, I got burden of debt for my entire life in return,” he sighed.
But, he very clearly shared it us that he is not against the working of the CBFC. Then, does he think it helpsIJ “Angry Indian Goddesses is a strong movie, muting certain words and blurring few scenes made no sense to the narrative. There is a reason why we put those scenes because they are imperative for the narrative. It actually curtails the freedom of speech and it definitely hampers the film,” he replied.