12 Years A Slave, the drama following the unjust enslavement of a free man in antebellum America, is the first to pass Indian censors for full-frontal nudity. It was originally to have nine cuts made to it, but a review found the nude scenes to be "necessary" and kept them in "based on merit".

The film's director Steve McQueen celebrated the decision in an interview with Indian newspaper DNA. "As a filmmaker, I needed to see the lashes on the back. I needed to see the pyschological effect afterward. If I hadn't done that, I would have done a disservice because that evidence had to be shown. The lynching had to be depicted in the best possible manner because it happened to hundreds of thousands of people. As someone whose ancestors experienced it, I needed to do it the way I did it."

The censor board's spokesperson Anjum Rajabali told DNA: "12 Years A Slave was given clearance based on merit after it was felt that the scenes were necessary and that cutting them would take away from the film itself. However, this does not mean a blanket approval for nudity in adult-only films." The chair of the board, Leela Samson, said the preservation of the film was in keeping with a gradual change in Indian values. "This board has always interpreted certification guidelines in the most sensitive, liberal and progressive way, reflecting the maturing sensibilities of our audiences," she said.

In an interview with the Hindustan Times, Indian filmmaker Mahesh Bhatt said: "The argument is that their culture is different from ours, so we should respect that and let their scenes go as they are. I still remember how kissing scenes in Hollywood were shown in theatres, while in Bollywood movies, it was a hush-hush issue."



The film is one of the most lauded of the year, and has nine Oscar nominations. It is also a commercial success, having made over $96m globally to date.

• More on 12 Years a Slave