The Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) has demanded removal of certain words—saali, kutiya and haramzaadi—from Irrfan Khan-starrer Hindi Medium. According to reports, the board has sought elimination of all clips that verbally abuse women. Besides axing scenes, and denying releases, the board, under Pahlaj Nihalani, has made odd demands for removal of words and phrases from movies in recent times.
Dalit and sex toy: In the recent Sonkashi Sinha-starrer Noor, where Sinha essays the role of a journalist, the CBFC had issues with usage of words like Dalit and sex toy in the movie. According to reports, the board wanted the word Dalit to be removed as it referred to the caste system. Interestingly, they wanted 'sex toy' to be replaced with the term 'adult site'. The CBFC also wanted the makers to drop the name Dutt from a reference to journalist Barkha Dutt, or get official permission from the journalist to mention her name in the movie.
Mann ki baat: Now, this is an instance where a word which was neither obscene nor derogatory was asked to be removed. According to reports, in the final scene in Dakxin Chhara's upcoming film Sameer, the villain has a dialogue: “Ek mann ki baat kahoon?” The Board insisted that this line be removed because three words in it are the same as the title of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's radio address to the nation, Mann ki baat! Chhara's movie, inspired by the 2008 Gujarat riots, had received a series of demands for cuts from the CBFC. Sameer, which eventually did make through with an 'A' rating for violence, is slated for India release in July.
Amitabh Bachchan and Amrish Puri: This is yet another one of those odd demands that came under severe criticism. The CBFC had demanded the makers of Swara Bhaskar-starrer Anaarkali of Aarah for 11 cuts, including removal of a dialogue which mentioned names of actors Amitabh Bachchan and Amrish Puri. Because the board feared it 'might hurt sentiments'. According to reports, the makers also had to take off the word 'Arjun' which was featured in a poem because the board figured it would 'hurt religious sentiments'.
Pichwada: The plot of Badrinath ki Dulhania, starring Varun Dhawan and Alia Bhatt, had a strong reference to the menace of the dowry system. The Censor Board had demanded that a disclaimer be shown at the beginning of the movie that the film and its makers in no way endorse dowry system. Beside that, the word pichwada (back side) was asked to be removed from a line in Dhawan's songs.
Lucknow: No messing with city names. The CBFC sent out a loud and clear message when it demanded the makers of Akshay Kumar-starrer Jolly LLB 2 to remove or mute the word 'Lucknow'. The film was set in Lucknow, but all dialogues taking a funny dig at the city, its people or manners had to be removed. For instance, in dialogues referring to the city such as: “Lucknow kachahari mein koi cheez time pe hui hai kya?, the name of the city was replaced by the word 'local'
