Censor Board's moral policing hits women characters most

Amid the raging controversy over the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) allegedly turning into a moral policing body, leading Bengal film actress Swastika Mukherjee said most woman characters bear the brunt of the board's stance.

"I have seen that the board does not object when a male character is shown abusing or having extra marital affairs. But they ask to chop the scene where the same things are portrayed through women characters," Mukherjee told IANS on the sidelines of an event on Sunday.

Speaking about her upcoming film "Saheb Bibi Golaam", the release of which has been postponed by almost a year since there was a tussle between the board and the director regarding the chopping of a rape scene, Mukherjee told IANS, "Is rape not a social reality? Will cutting a scene stop rape?"

Some other films where Mukherjee acted - "Family Album", "Take One" and "Ami Aar Amar Girlfriends" - too faced CBFC's wrath of for portraying "objectionable" content.

Taking a dig at the CBFC chief Pahlaj Nihalani's stand on the "Udta Punjab" issue, Mukherjee criticised him for his unwillingness to show the social realities through films.

Reacting to Nihalani's statement that portrayal of obscenity and vulgarity is not allowed in Indian cuture, Mukherjee said "He does not carry the baton of protecting the culture of the society. Films like 'Aag Ka Gola' that he produced in fact have a lot of objectionable content. Was he not bothered about the culture then?"

Mukherjee further condemned the board for its "hypocritical" stance on censorship, observing that porn comedies like "'Grand Masti' with disgraceful content pass without a cut" while "Udta Punjab" and other movies that unearth social realities face massive resistance from the board.