March 16th, 2010 (Sampurn Wire): Dibakar Banerjee’s much talked-about Sex Love Aur Dhokha went before the censor board yesterday. The controversial love scene showing a bare-backed girl on top of a man, making love, has been told to be blurred on screen.
.JPG "Dibakar Banerjee at Love Sex Aur Dhokha film bash in Enigma on 12th March 2010 (10)")
In other words, Dibakar’s couple will be seen by the audience making love as two blurred figures.
The director, already miffed and mired in what he sees as unnecessary controversy, refuses to be enraged even if so many recent Hindi films have had graphic love- making scenes. As for the female bare back during a love-making scene, the censors liberally allowed that in Rensil d’Silva’s Kurbaan just recently!
Says Dibakar, “We had submitted a DVD of the film to the Censor Board so they’d recommend cuts in advance and avoid dealys. The censor preview recommendation suggests that we blur the sex scene. We were told this scene was too graphic and needed tempering. There’s no way the censors could allow the love-making scene. We’ve clearly been told that even before the film is submitted for censoring.”
When asked how bare-backed love-making scenes have been allowed by the censors recently and how the one in Love Sex Aur Dhokha has been asked to tone down even before the film is submitted to the censors, the director chooses to smile mysteriously.
“I’ve been, in principle, against the film being perceived as a voyeur’s delight. Love Sex Aur Dhokha is not about sex sex and sex. Those who expect that will turn away disappointed.”
However, in another more radical cut, all referenceto caste in a love story between a low-caste boy and a high-caste girl has been removed by the Censor Board. This has infuriated Dibakar. Says the director, “This completely changes the perspective of my story since now the caste-challenged love story is turned into a poor-boy-rich-girl romance. This is not what I intended.”
Also, the song ‘Tu Nangi Acchhi Lagti Hai’, which was modified on the audio cd to ‘Tu Gandi Achchi Lagti Hai’, has now been similarly modified in the film also.
Says Dibakar, “But no complaints. Considering the controversial content, my film got away easily with little cuts and an ‘Adults’ certificate.”
-Sampurn Wire
