MSG controversy: 8 movies that ran into trouble with the censors

The controversy over the movie, ‘Messenger of God’, featuring Dera Saccha Sauda chief, Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh, rages unabated.

Censor Board Chief Leela Samson has resigned in protest against the nod given to the movie by the Film Certification Appellate Tribunal, after it was disaproved by the Board headed by her. Another Board member Ira Bhaskar has also threatened to resign.

We look at eight other movies than ran foul of the censors in the recent past.

Ugly (2014)

In this Anurag Kashyap’s venture, he refused to carry the disclaimer, ‘Cigarette smoking is injurious to health’ in the smoking scenes featured in the film. This led to a standoff with the censor board. Even though it was ready to hit the scenes in 2013, it only began screening in December 2014 in India. At the end, the film was released with the said disclaimer.

 

Rang Rasiya (2014)

After a six-year-long battle, Rang Rasiya finally released in 2014. Inspired by the life of legendary artist Raja Ravi Varma and his muse, the film faced the Censor Board’s wrath for its bold scenes and  nudity.

 

Haider (2014)

Vishal Bhardwaj’s ambitious project, Haider, was given the ‘U/A’ certificate only after 41 cuts. The scenes that were axed included a truck load of corpses, wire being inserted inside a naked man, a shot of a bloody dead body and those which included abusive words. The story which revolves round the insurgency-hit Kashmir conflict is a modern day adaptation of Shakespeare’s Hamlet.

Miss Lovely (2014, India)

The internationally acclaimed movie was initially asked for 157 cuts (almost half the movie!) but finally managed with just four cuts for its India release. The movie based on Mumbai’s C-grade movie industry was released with ‘A’ certificate. The movie even won the National Film Award – Special Jury Award (Feature film) and Best Production Design.

 

Ragini MMS 2 (2014)

This erotic horror film featuring the Indo-Canadian Adult star was a box office success. It has been suggested that many of the scenes in the movie were too bold for the Censor Board and were deleted. The film released with ‘A’ certificate.

 

Chakravyuh (2012)

Prakash Jha’s political thriller ran into trouble with the censor board for the song ‘Tata, Birla, Ambani aur Bata, sab ne hai desh ko kaata’, sung by Kailash Kher. Censor board refused to pass the song, even though the Director stated that it was not a personal attack but referred to a mind-set. However, the song was passed only when the film maker included a disclaimer that the names were used only symbolically. Listen to the song here.

Delhi Belly (2011)

This expletive laden adult comedy, which was released in 2011, was given ‘A’ certification, with the content relatively intact. However, when it was slated to be broadcast on the television, the content ran into trouble with the TV censors.

Black Friday (2007)

The movie, directed by Anurag Kashyap, was based on the 1993 Bombay blasts. Even though it was made in 2004 and had won the Grand Jury Prize at the Indian Film Festival of Los Angeles, it was released in India only in 2007. This was after its ‘sensitive content’ was axed per the Censor Board’s direction.