A festival to screen censored footages
Source: AFP |
April 24, 2013, Wednesday
|
Print Edition
Print Edition
A new film festival will screen edited footages from Bollywood movies for the first time that were deemed too racy for Indian viewers, including the first attempt at an on-screen kiss.
The "Cut-Uncut" festival in New Delhi will feature unedited versions of films which fell foul of the all-powerful Indian censor board that vets movies before their release.
Portrayals of sex, nudity, social unrest and violence can still be kept out of movie halls under India's strict laws that were first drafted in 1952 and later amended in 1983.
In the year of Bollywood's 100-year anniversary, "Cut-Uncut" is being organized by the ministry of information and broadcasting to demonstrate its more open-minded approach.
"We want to be more liberal, stop enforcing the old rules and instead recognize artistic endeavor," said a ministry official. Until recently, "long kissing scenes, nudity and visuals depicting acts of rebellion against the government" were all censored, he explained.
"With changing times, we want to have a fresh approach. Our aim is to change the old set of censor laws soon."
A 2004 documentary, Final Solution, which looks at the sensitive subject of Hindu-Muslim religious rioting, will also be shown after it was banned for being "highly provocative."
"Censorship has the power to kill the spirit of a film. It's high time the government stops dictating what Indians should be watching," said Dibakar Banerjee, whose film "Shanghai" ran into trouble with the board.
The "Cut-Uncut" festival in New Delhi will feature unedited versions of films which fell foul of the all-powerful Indian censor board that vets movies before their release.
Portrayals of sex, nudity, social unrest and violence can still be kept out of movie halls under India's strict laws that were first drafted in 1952 and later amended in 1983.
In the year of Bollywood's 100-year anniversary, "Cut-Uncut" is being organized by the ministry of information and broadcasting to demonstrate its more open-minded approach.
"We want to be more liberal, stop enforcing the old rules and instead recognize artistic endeavor," said a ministry official. Until recently, "long kissing scenes, nudity and visuals depicting acts of rebellion against the government" were all censored, he explained.
"With changing times, we want to have a fresh approach. Our aim is to change the old set of censor laws soon."
A 2004 documentary, Final Solution, which looks at the sensitive subject of Hindu-Muslim religious rioting, will also be shown after it was banned for being "highly provocative."
"Censorship has the power to kill the spirit of a film. It's high time the government stops dictating what Indians should be watching," said Dibakar Banerjee, whose film "Shanghai" ran into trouble with the board.
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