Super Deluxe, which was certified ‘A’ for its strong language, was a family affair in most cinemas in Chennai.

Vijay Sethupathi, after Rajinikanth, Vijay and Ajith Kumar before him, is one actor who has managed to build a fan base across age groups.

It was natural, then, that my 12-year-old nephew was excited to catch Super Deluxe on the big screen. “It’s an A-certified film,” I broke the news, to little collective reaction from the family.

I was bewildered, even as they continued to scrutinise Sethupathi’s recent body of work, and it made me seek answers for the indifference to the announcement that Thiagarajan Kumararaja’s film was meant for viewing only by adults.

“What is your understanding of an ‘A’ padam?,” I prodded. The answer? A porn movie.

This prevalent colloquial understanding is also one explanation as to why theatres in the city permit children to watch A-certified films when accompanied by an adult, despite being fully aware of the laws they’re breaking in the process.

A colleague at work, who had caught Super Deluxe at a popular theatre in Jafferkhanpet, saw ushers letting in children by the dozens for the screening.

“We insist that they not bring children. But parents don’t understand,” says Ruban Mathivanan, MD of GK Cinemas, Porur. “They argue, they fight with us and threaten cancellation,” he adds.

At this point, most theatres relent, and let families through. The other option is to issue a refund, which theatre owners hesitate to do.

No harm done?

While exhibitors point to their inability to stand their ground, why do parents insist on bringing kids along?

The critic’s view Baradwaj Rangan is no stranger to children at A-rated movies. Restless and distracted at the cinemas, children — who are often handed mobile phones by parents to play with, much to others’ annoyance — have spoiled the film critic’s movie-watching experience more times than he can count. “Because films are synonymous with the idea ‘let’s go out and have a good time’, unless something scandalous happens, no one notices (the rating),” says Rangan, adding that he was “quite appalled” to see parents bring kids along to watch Rowdy Rathore. “That was a very violent movie,” he says. Rangan believes all that parents need to do is some quick research to know the nature of the film’s content. Still, a violent film would get the green signal, over one with sexual references. “I think parents are more afraid about children watching sex than violence.”

Poornima H, a Bengaluru resident, says that the nuclear family situation leaves little choice. “You don’t expect parents to leave their children behind at home, do you? My sister’s family love watching horror movies. They took their six-year-old to watch The Conjuring films (A-certified),” she says.

If dead people are not up your alley, how about the undead?

Parents like Rubina* say that she doesn’t mind a bit of zombie-watching for her seven-year-old, because it would help her child “differentiate between fantasy and reality”. “Let them watch the monsters, so they don’t fear it and stay stuck thinking there is one under their bed,” she says.

Kalyani*, mum to a five-year-old, proposes that watching adult content can be an “unintentionally educative” experience for children. “Children want to know everything these days; when we hush up things, they can become more curious, and might get misinformation. It’s not safe being innocent these days,” she argues.

Risky Business

Psychologists take a dim view of this parenting style.

Dr Vasuki Mathivanan, consultant psychologist, Explore counselling, says that such responses reflect “ignorance”, and “a selfish attitude”.

Dhanush in a still from Vada Chennai

“Viewing content unsuitable to their ages affects a child’s psycho social development. For instance, a child between the ages of three and five, is at a stage where his/her personality takes shape. An adult will walk out of the cinema after two-and-a-half-hours, and forget all about what he/she just saw. A child will register all the information in their subconscious,” she says, adding that children don’t find “closure” when the credits roll. “There are a lot of unanswered questions in the child’s mind.”

In the case of Super Deluxe, it is the liberal use of foul language that earned it an A-certificate. The irony is that the film itself has a sequence where a child is shown to pick up a cuss word from Fahadh Faasil’s character.

Know your rating Formed in 1951, the Central Board of Film Certification certifies mainstream films under three categories:

U (Unrestricted public exhibition)

U/A (Unrestricted, subject to parental guidance below age 12). Added in 1983

A (Restricted to adult audience)

Filmmaker Anita Udeep, whose recent movie, 90ml, caught the attention due to its adult content, is of the opinion that audiences have become numb to the violent content presented in mainstream cinema, “...to the point that violence is no longer seen as adult content”, she says.

Rakesh Gowthaman, MD of Vettri Theatres, Chromepet, concurs.

“For instance, Yuddham Sei (2011) had action sequences featuring blood and gore, and an A-rating. I know families picked up fights with us to let their children through because, ‘It is only violence, no’. For The Conjuring series, ‘It is only a few scares. We’ve come for that only’. These are the excuses we hear,” he says.

Priyanka Acharya, a US-citizen in Chennai, finds it surprising that Indian parents are comfortable with their children watching violent content in films. If it is a film you feel you cannot miss, and have nowhere else to drop the child off, “taking turns to watch the movie with your group of friends, while the other parent sits at home to watch over the child”, is an option, she suggests.

‘A’ for Adult

Udeep suggests that filmmakers also deliberately underplay the A-certificate because of the money at stake.

“I ensured that 90ml was publicised as an adult film that was only for the 18+ audience. With Super Deluxe, I think this was not propagated during the promotions. When you have someone like Vijay Sethupathi in the film, it is obvious for the average movie watcher to assume that it is a commercial film,” she says.

‘Valak’ from The Conjuring 2

Gowthaman suggests that the CBFC can work around the problem by compelling movie-makers to play short clips warning the audience of the content they’re about to witness. “...Similar to the no smoking campaign advertisements,” he says.

A sticking point in this debate, he adds, is what makes for adult content. “There are commercial films with vulgar item songs that have been given a ‘U’ rating. There has to be standardisation across board. A lip lock in a Bollywood film passes the Censor Board, whereas that is enough for a Tamil film to receive an ‘A’ rating. This needs to change,” Gowthaman says.

There is also a dearth of films meant for children in the regional languages, adds Udeep. Why these don’t get made in the Indian movie industry is because there is no money in it.

“The Indian parent’s mindset is such that they would not take their child to a children’s film. Parents take kids to those films that they can enjoy watching too. This is why you find superhero movies are so popular,” she concludes.

*name changed on request