India’s Central Board of Film Certification works real hyper-actively to reinforce its rules and regulations over our Bollywood industry. Its firm control over Indian film world is so tremendous that it not only removes specific erroneous words from Hindi cinema, but sometimes it has also banned movies from releasing at silver screen. Bollywood which is the largest film industry in the world in terms of number of flicks produced every year. However, besides the hits, flops and average flicks, there exists another category of Indian cinema which is deliberately kept out of our reach officially.
Bollywood films that got banned by censor board basically involves strong (bold) language, suggestive (vulgar) scenes, gender taboos, Kashmir issues, religion. Here are some Bollywood films outlawed by Censor Board.
1. Bandit Queen
Bandit Queen of 1994 was way too ‘offensive’, ‘vulgar’, ‘indecent’ and almost criticised at the cinematic conservatism of the Indian censor board. The film’s plot was based on the life of Phoolan Devi, directed by Shekhar Kapur was banned due its uncensored sexual content, nudity and abusive language.
2. Fire
Another Bollywood film banned by Censor board was Deepa Mehta’s film Fire in 1996. However, the film was recognised for its global content and appeal but failed to captivate Hindu groups (like Shiv Sena) in India due to its subject, which reflected a subject of lesbian relationship between two sisters-in-laws in a Hindu family.
3. Kamasutra
Kama Sutra – A Tale Of Love too faced the pressure of Censor Board which considered it as ‘explicit’, ‘unethical’ and ‘immoral’ for the Indian audiences which reflected the subject of Kama Sutra. This Mira Nair directed film depicted the lives of four lovers was a hit according to the critics but was a major flop with the Censor Board and ultimately got banned.
4. The Pink Mirror
The Pink Mirror film by Sridhar Rangayan had the concept of trans-sexuality to the forefront. The story highlighted the quest of two transsexuals and a gay teenager to seduce a straight man. The Censor board got miffed by the ‘vulgarity’ in the movie and outlawed it even after the film got good reviews at film festivals globally.
5. Black Friday
Adapted from the famous book Black Friday – The True Story of the Bombay Bomb Blasts by S Hussain Zaidi, Anurag Kashyap directed the movie and was considered too cynical to be released in India. The movie even was slammed by a stay order from The Bombay High Court because the 1993 Bombay blasts case and remained suspended to release until the trial got over.
6. Paanch
Paanch 2004 film directed by Anurag Kashyap, faced a lot of wrath from the Censor Board. It was based on the Joshi-Abhyankar serial murders in 1997, the movie was a thriller genre with immense violence, crass language and drug abuse hence the Censor Board outlawed the film.
7. Parzania
Parzania 2005 film raised the veiled issues of Gujarat’s scarred past, and received anger and appreciation equally. The film was based on a quintessential plot which was about a boy called Azhar who goes missing during the Gujarat riots in the year 2002. The film garnered a National Award for its cinematic excellence but was not considered enough for political parties in Gujarat, where it was strictly banned.
8. Sins
Sins of 2005 was about an erotic journey of a Kerala priest who fell for the charms of a woman and got sexually involved with her. Filled with obsession, lust and he struggles with the norms of the society he lived in hence Sins was not that well for the Catholics. The Censor Board too had issues with the nude scenes in the film and hence the movie was outlawed.
9. Water
Water 2005 film by Deepa Mehta which faced a lot of controversy because of its dark insights on the life of an Indian widow. Filmed in an Ashram of Varanasi, the script of the movie was written by Anurag Kashyap and garnered controversial issues like ostracism and misogyny which were catalyst for Indian Censor Board which got banned of course.
10. Gandu
‘Gandu’ a film of 2010 was a Bengali movie was a rap musical which was known for its effective buzz due to its oral sex scenes and nudity. The film was in white and black format, the movie was banned because it disregarded Indian culture.
11. Dazed in Doon
Doon School is one of the most highly respected schools of the country. Ratna Pathak Shah’s movie Dazed in Doon which revolved around a boy who is studying at the prestigious Doon School and the life he was leading there. For the school it was a great insulting and hurting subject that spoilt the name and heritage of the school and hence got the film banned.
12. Unfreedom
2015’s Unfreedom is a modern-day thriller having the concept about a lesbian love story connected to an Islamic terrorism-related angle. The two ‘taboos’ were brought together in one package, the Censor Board found it tough due to its nudity and the explicit scenes between the two protagonists hence got banned.
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