Are Censors hampering the market for Hollywood films in India?

Several Bollywood filmmakers have faced a tough time dealing with the objection raised over content in films by The Censor Board of Film Certification CBFC Be it inserting antismoking advertisements in film chopping intimate scenes or removing a few words or dialogues the CBFCrsquos actions have raised many eyebrows time and again with their decisions The latest film that has come under the Censor Boardrsquos scanner is the new James Bond franchise Spectre The makers of the film had to cut short the length of a kissing scene and remove a few words like bas and ase in order to get a UA certificate for the filmThe Board does not want any bikini scenes in Colombiana starring Zoe SaldanaIn the pastIn 2013 renowned filmmaker Woody Allen too had a tough time dealing with the Censor Board Woody was asked to include an antismoking advertisement in his film Blue Jasmine The filmmaker had refused and his film did not release in India It was a loss for exhibitors and distributors in India However the James Bond team had to oblige as they apparently didnrsquot have the time to approach the Revising Committee of the CBFCldquoI personally do not endorse the idea of whatever the makers of Spectre had been asked to edit or remove I am a member of the revising committee and the examining committee has taken the decision The makers could have approached the revising committee to seek help but they didnrsquot I think the entire Censor Board should not be blamed Thereare people in the system who do not understand cinema and are implementing stupid rules and because of them the entire body is being blamedrdquo says Nandini Sardesai of the CBFC adding ldquoI have requested filmmakers to approach the Information and Broadcasting Ministry to discuss their grievances and bring a change in the way the Censor Board works todayrdquoKnock Knock directed by Eli Roth released in the US in October but is stuck with the Censor Board in IndiaAnother film stuckSpectre is not the only film thatrsquos faced censor trouble in the recent past Knock Knock directed by Eli Roth had released in the USA in October but is still stuck with the Censor Board ldquoI had edited out a few nudity scenes to get a certificate from the Censor Board But the examining committee had problems with a few scenes So I went to the revising committee and it cleared my film without any cuts However I am yet to receive a certificate for the film Its release has been pushed by two months I am hoping to get a certificate at the earliest and planning to release the film in January 2016 But the pirated version of the film is already available onlinerdquo says Manish Dutt who has the rights to distribute Knock Knock in IndiaDutt has invested 2000 to distribute the film in India and has suffered a huge loss In fact he had also faced problems with the makers of the film Knock Knock ldquoThe makers are unhappy as I edited out a few nude scenes They did not want the filmrsquos creativity to be affected But what do I do when the Censor Board here reacts so differently from what they expect I had invested 2000 and want to recover the amount I had no choicerdquo explains DuttLoss for audienceIn the whole conflict itrsquos Indian audiences that will be affected The viewers might just be restricted from viewing global cinemas in the big screen ldquoInternational filmmakers are very particular about whatever is there in the film and are against any force which affects their creativity In the past filmmakers have not released their films in India And if the Censor Boardrsquos approach remains the same there is a possibility of more films not being released here The audiences will not get to experience movies in the big screenrdquo says film exhibitor Akshaye RathiInterestingly it will also lead to a growing market for piracy ldquoIn this day and age of digitalisation if people want to watch a movie and if it is not releasing in theatres they will download the pirated version This will not help anyone There should be a change in the system to avoid such a thingrdquo adds RathiStephanie Sigman and Daniel Craig in Spectre which faced censor issuesA dying marketWhile it is believed that international filmmakers do not encourage any kind of censorship that affects a filmrsquos creative appeal people in the trade fear that the growing market for international films in India might just take a beating ldquoHollywood filmmakers will not oblige any kind of censorship which they would believe unnecessary They will not release films in India if it continues It will become extremely difficult for distributors to function in such a marketrdquo says DuttHowever it has been a growing market so far ldquoMany Hollywood films have done extremely well in India There is a lot of audience for international movies and it will only increase But Censor Board troubles can affect the growing market International filmmakers will not mind not releasing films in India because itrsquos not the biggest market but it will be a huge loss for usrdquo says RathiAgainst censorshipFilmmakers in Bollywood too believe that the Censor Boardrsquos approach will affect creativity and market for films in India However it seems that there isnrsquot much that can be done ldquoThe IampB Ministry is not ready to have a dialogue We have approached them to discuss our concerns over Censor Board issues but the ministry has not respondedrdquo says film producer Mukesh BhattExpressing his grievances over the Censor Boardrsquos decisions Bhatt says ldquoIndia is a miniscule market and if they international filmmakers feel that there creative space is getting destroyed in the country which is not growing with the changing times they wonrsquot release films here Renowned filmmakers from across the globe who have certain respectability for the content that they make will not get into discussion with the authorities here If a kiss is not pornography and not a threat to national security then why is the Censor Board cutting it While this country talks about being progressive its actions are regressiverdquoAnother independent filmmaker Onir also echoes Bhattrsquos sentiments ldquoWe have seen kissing scenes even in Bollywood films But the issues that the examining committee raises are not acceptable Itrsquos depriving the audience of a complete experience of watching a film and deters filmmakers to release films in IndiardquoTalking about the losses that the Indian market is facing because of Censor Board issues Jiten Hemdev president Foreign Film Chamber of India says ldquoWhen our audiences know that the Censor Board here has cut out a few scenes they do not watch the film in theatres They instead opt for a nocut online and it is easily available since it hasnrsquot been edited abroad We suffer huge losses because of itrdquo Hemdev himself has faced a censorship problem recently ldquoA few days ago I had gone to the Censor Board to get a UA certificate for the film Colombiana starring Zoe Saldana I am distributing the film in the South But the censor folk asked me to remove a scene that shows an actress in a bikini I am surprisedrdquo