“If A Film About Erectile Dysfunction Can Get A “UA” Why Can’t My Film Get A ‘UA’ Onir Rages Against The Censorboard
Onir is convinced that the promised change at the censorboard is no more than an eyewash. The National award winning filmmaker’s latest work Shab which was submitted to the CBFC with voluntary cuts for television broadcast, was refused the ‘UA’ certification needed for the film to be aired on the home medium
Onir is in a state of shock. “It is very disheartening. Considering my film My brother Nikhil about homosexuality and AIDS, and I Am which had far more explicit sexual situations than Shab, are currently regularly screened on the Star network it is a very scary situation to be in.And besides I just introduced the Oscar-winning film gay film Moonlight to be telecast on a prime channel. When Moonlight with its theme of homosexuality got on the home medium why not Shab? If this is not dual standards, what is?!”
Onir further adds, “The CBFC thinks home viewers can’t see the heroine (Raveena Tandon) having an extra-marital affair. But extra-marital affairs are the universal theme of soaps!Neither does the film glorify homosexuality as stated by the CBFC, nor does it glorify extra-martial affairs …. So they got it all wrong.The message of the film is progressive .People make mistakes and these people repent and become better humans . The film propagates acceptance.”
Onir says he was open to making further cuts to obtain the UA certificate. “This came as a shock to me.I was open to more cuts. But the CBFC is no longer open to debates or discussion.There is nothing regressive or sleazy in the film as compared to many more ‘UA’ films passing off regressive messages as entertainment. If the CFBC can give a ‘UA’ to a film about erectile dysfunction(Shubh Mangal Savdhaan) why not Shab?”
Onir feels the CBFC is regressing. “In my film I AM there were situations of forced oral sex, child abuse and single motherhood. I was asked to modify and cut. But I was given a fair deal.We’re definitely regressing. In 2005 my film on homosexuality and AIDS My Brother Nikhil was given a ‘U’. In 2011 I AM with its forthright sexual content got a ‘UA’. Now in 2017 a film which touches on homosexuality and extra-marital relationships is denied a ‘UA’. I can’t show it on television. Home viewers are likely to get corrupted.Let’s all sit and watch Bigg Boss with its crude altercations.”
