Death of the item song as we know it: Get ready for pixelated music videos as censor board covers up 'vulgar' content

It's the death of the item song as we know it, but thankfully only on TV and only by pixels.



Bollywood songs and dance numbers featuring semi-clad women displaying 'vulgar' moves have been semi-banned from television channels.

Semi-banned, because the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) says that scenes objectifying women or displaying them suggestively will have to be blurred or pixellated.



Edited for content: Parts of this Grand Masti number have been blurred for TV

The pixelation will begin with Tu Bhi Mood Mein', a playful rain-dance number from Indra Kumar's soon-to-be-released adult comedy Grand Masti.



The song is now being aired on music channels with pixels covering objectionable parts of the images.



The song features Vivek Oberoi, Riteish Deshmukh and Aftab Shivdasani dancing in the rain with three scantily clad girls. Since the film is first-of-itskind adult comedy, it has several suggestive songs.



All these have been moderated to be appropriate for TV viewing. The unblemished promos of the film have gone viral on YouTube.



"Songs that are moderate in content are acceptable to the TV audience but the board is careful when it comes to something that is either too vulgar or inappropriate. Special instructions are thus given for toning down such songs," said CBFC chief Pankaja Thakur.



According to directives of Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, films with Acertification (Adults only) have to be re-certified for TV viewing by the censor board.



For this reason, the A-certified Grand Masti has been scrutinised for TV viewing. Producer Indra Kumar doesn't mind.

"This is the first adult comedy, which is meant for an above-18 audience. We had applied for an A certificate, and the film was passed without any cuts," he said.



"We have agreed to the censor board's suggestion that some portions will have to be pixellated or blurred for television promotions.



Since the film is for adult viewing, we do not want to unnecessarily sensationalise it on TV," Kumar added.



The big picture could have problems of its own, however. Dinesh Chadha, a lawyer based in Rupnagar, Punjab, has filed a petition at the Punjab and Haryana High Court in Chandigarh seeking a ban on the film and its promos, part from quashing of the certification it has been awarded.



The petition has been listed for hearing on September 10 before Justice Rameshwar Singh Malik. Ministry of Information and Broadcasting,Central Board of Film Certification and Maruti international films Pvt. Ltd , the banner under which the film has been produced, have been made parties by Chadha.



He has also accused the CBFC of violating the provisions of the Section 5B of the Cinematograph Act 1952 as the contents of the film are "full with the indecency and immorality".

"The film Grand Masti is full with the vulgar, nude scenes and has double meaning dialogues which has been strictly prohibited under the Cinematograph Act 1952. The film if released will not only give a wrong message to the youth but will also degrade the position of the women who are already facing crimes," Chadha told MAIL TODAY.



Censored: 'Tu Bhi Mood Mein', a playful rain-dance number from Indra Kumar's soon-to-be-released adult comedy Grand Masti (the promotional poster for which is pictured), is to be pixellated