Minister of State

Central Board of Film Certification

casualty

Shonali Bose

cerebral palsy

Kalki Koechlin

Examining Committee

the middle

Revising Committee

Despite assurances from thefor Information & Broadcasting, Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore that theis a ‘certifying body’ not a ‘censoring one,’ the Board continues to wield its scissors on films. And its latestis’s award winning film Margarita, With A Straw, a coming-of-age story of a young girl suffering from, played by, who comes to terms with her queer sexuality. After watching the film, the(EC) asked the makers to tone down a kissing scene between Kalki and Sayani Gupta.“There is a 12-second long kiss between the two characters, but the CBFC had problems with it. They want me to reduce it to just a few seconds. I explained that as it is their first kiss, it can’t be that brief.” The members also asked Bose to edit out a scene when Kalki showsfinger. Another sequence shows a male character removing her undergarments so that she could use the washroom and she then proceeds to urinate. This too riled the Censors. “I told them this is reality, not titillation. My cousin sister suffers from cerebral palsy and when nobody else is around; her father has to take off her underwear so she can use the loo.She will pee in her pants otherwise,” said the filmmaker. “The film will go to thenow. I hope better sense prevails as the EC, to my shock, told me they had moral guidelines to follow,” an exasperated Shonali told Mirror. Is she hopeful that the Revising Committee will pass the film without any cuts? “I’m not going to settle for a single cut and will go to the Tribunal if required. It’s a sensitive film and the CBFC should see it in the context it’s made. Fortunately, my producers are backing me in this fight,” she said.