Covering Bollywood and the Hindi Cinema

Hell hath no fury like a mother scorned! Sorry for being so dramatic but yesteryears actress and today’s censor Chief, Sharmila Tagore is furious that her son’s (Saif Ali Khan) Omkara has been taken to court by a small time actor who accuses of it being offensive!

Here are some excerpts from an interview Sharmila gave to the Indian newspaper Mid-Day:

“The film was depicting a certain section of society that doesn’t follow the rules of civil society, the law-breakers, so to speak, in a certain community. The difference between the characters of Omkara and Langda Tyagi was that Omkara was a little nobler among the outlaws. Langda Tyagi is more uncouth. We gave Omkara an ‘A’ certificate.”

“Those who have brought public litigations against the film’s language must define an adult film. If 18 years is not old enough, then voting rights must be postponed accordingly. Let them define what an adult is, and we should all vote at that age then. We, at the Censor Board, are quite clear about what we’re doing.”

"We’re inundated with litigations. One of our office bearers is constantly in court. It’s such a drain on our limited resources. We need to take a good look at censorship. If the film industry provides entertainment, it should be allowed the freedom of expression. When we, as an enabling body, find something objectionable we cut a few scenes. Otherwise we just give a certificate. Vishal Bhardwaj preferred an ‘A’ certificate rather than a ‘U/A’ certificate for Omkara even though it meant limiting his audience. That was his artistic freedom."