The Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) on Wednesday broke its silence amid the controversy around Sarke Chunariya Teri Sarke (also called Sarke Chunar), a song from the Hindi version of the upcoming Kannada film, KD: The Devil.
"It is categorically stated that no certification application has been received by the CBFC for the song Sarke Chunariya Teri Sarke," the censor board said in a statement, as per a News18 Hindi report.
This comes amid backlash against the CBFC over the Hindi version of the song, the lyrics for which sparked widespread outrage. The song was also officially banned by the Centre on Wednesday over its vulgar lyrics.
In that regard, the CBFC has also clarified that it had been wrongly pulled into the controversy, because certifying content released on digital platforms is not within its purview.
The censor board added that it was a responsible and sensitive organisation whose members were deeply concerned with the portrayal of women in cinema and were working diligently to avoid controversies.
What was the controversy about?
Produced by KVN Productions, the makers of Vijay's Jana Nayagan and Yash's Toxic, the Kannada gangster drama film stars Dhruva Sarja, Sanjay Dutt, Nora Fatehi, Shilpa Shetty and Vijay Sethupathi, among others.
Originally scheduled for an April 30 release, the original Kannada song in the film, titled Sarse Ninna Seraga Sarse, caused widespread controversy online upon its release earlier this week. Soon, backlash for the other versions of the song, especially the Hindi version, added on.
Netizens alleged that the song had extremely vulgar lyrics that were demeaning to women, while some even claimed that the song would send the wrong message to teenagers.
Both the Haryana and Karnataka women’s commissions also described the lyrics as objectionable, and legal petitions were submitted urging the immediate ban and removal of the song from platforms.