The Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) is still prudish about love locks. In this week’s big Hindi release, Sunny Sanskari Ki Tulsi Kumari, the CBFC has reduced a torrid liplock between Varun Dhawan and Janhvi Kapoor by 75 per cent.
Shocked but amused by the prudery in present times, filmmaker Mahesh Bhatt says, “It seems we are not willing to move ahead with the times. A kiss is a very natural expression of love. I remember when I was active as a filmmaker, we would shoot lengthy kisses in the hope that some of it would survive the censors’ scissors. It seems things haven’t changed much.”
Back in 2016, ‘James Bond’ Daniel Craig and Ranbir Kapoor’s kisses with their respective co-stars in Spectre and Tamasha, respectively, were ruthlessly snipped off to a more ‘acceptable’ length.
Producer Pahlaj Nihalani, who was the chairperson of the censor board in 2016, says, “During that time, it seemed the right thing to do (to reduce the liplock). But eight years later, I wouldn’t tamper with intimate scenes.”
Aamir Khan, who is credited with the longest kissing sequence (with Karisma Kapoor) of Hindi cinema in Raja Hindustani, feels censoring such moments is irrational. “When I did that scene, I was criticised. But I feel kissing is a very normal, healthy way of expressing love on screen. Much better than showing two flowers touching each other.”
