Bollywood is one of the largest movie producing industry in the world because of the number of movies it generates every year. But apart from all the hits and flops, there are some movies our honorable Censor Board neatly sweeps under the rug.
Films that indulge in strong language, suggestive scenes, gender taboos, Kashmir issues, religion are the ones who do not see the light of the day. So here are 12 Bollywood Movies which got banned by the Censor Board –
Bandit Queen – Based on the life of gangster Phoolan Devi, this movie by Shekhar Kapur was banned for its explicit sexual content, nudity and abusive language which our Censor Board clearly could not digest!
Fire – Director Deepa Mehta’s Fire garnered a lot of critical acclaims worldwide but became a subject of controversy in India. The movie dealt with the lesbian relationship between two sisters-in-law in a Hindu family. But the protests got so bad, that actors, Shabana Azmi and Nandita Das along with their director Deepa Mehta received death threats which finally ended with a ban of the movie.
Kama Sutra – A Tale Of Love – The Mira Nair movie was termed as ”explicit’, ‘unethical’ and ‘immoral’ by the Censor Board for the audience, of the same nation who came up with the idea of Kama Sutra. The movie was a hit with the critics but a major flop with the Censor Board which ultimately got it banned.
The Pink Mirror – The Pink Mirror by Sridhar Rangayan dealt with the quest of two transsexuals and a gay teenager to seduce a straight man. The movie which brought the concept of trans-sexuality to the forefront was banned as the Censor Board was “offended” by the “vulgarity” in the movie.
Paanch – Based on the Joshi-Abhyankar serial murders in 1997, the Anurag Kashyap movie faced a lot of heat from the Censor Board. With high octane violence, crass language and drug abuse the movie was banned by the Board and the audience had to do with the pirated version to watch the film.
Black Friday – Loosely adapted from the famous book Black Friday – The True Story of the Bombay Bomb Blasts by S Hussain Zaidi, Anurag Kashyap’s movie was considered too dark to be released in India and received a stay order from Bombay Court until the ’93 Bombay blasts case got over.
Parzania – The movie revolved around a boy called Azhar who goes missing during the Gujarat riots in the year 2002. Even though the film won a National Award, the political parties in the state of Gujarat fiercely protested against it and did not let it release.
Sins – Directed by Vinod Pande, the movie was an erotic story about of a Kerala priest who falls for the charms of a woman and gets sexually involved with her. The movie did not go down well with the Catholics and the Censor Board who had issues with the nude scenes and got the movie banned from theaters.
Water – Another Deepa Mehta classic, Water faced a lot of controversy because of its dark insights on the life of the Indian widow. Written by Anurag Kashyap, the movie stirred up topics like ostracism and misogyny which were alien to the Indian Censor Board. The film’s set was also attacked and destroyed by 2000 angry protesters.
Gandu – The title of the movie was enough to mess with the Censor Board. The Bengali movie was a rap musical which created a lot of buzz for its oral sex scenes and nudity and got banned because it ‘defied Indian sensibilities.’
Inshallah, Football – Inshallah, Football is a documentary about a Kashmiri boy who aspires to travel abroad and become a famous footballer someday but is denied because his father is charged with militancy. The film which intended to bring out the militancy problems in the valley was denied the necessary censor certificate by the board because of its sensitive subject.
Unfreedom – The movie was a modern-day thriller which showed a lesbian love story entangled within an Islamic terrorism-related angle. Highlighting two taboos in a single film was too much for the Censor Board to bear and the movie did not get a pan India release and was accused of “igniting unnatural passions”.