Censored: Buddha Film's Kamasutra Scene
By:
Upala
KBR,
Mid-Day
Saturday,
April
22,
2006
Pan Nalin came into limelight with his debut feature film Samsara - a commercial and critical success, which won him over thirty international awards.
Samsara is the story of the formative years of sixth century Indian monk Bodhidharma, who migrated to China, giving birth to Zen Buddhism and martial arts.
Sony Pictures is releasing Samsara in India and the censor board has chopped some portions from a major lovemaking scene - a Kamasutra sequence, with a saree and hanging from a wooden beam.
The beam has now become so famous that even tourists visiting monasteries in Ladakh ask about it, says Nalin...
What
is
Samsara
about?
Samsara
is
a
love
story,
an
adventure
and
a
spiritual
quest.
It
is
the
modern
interpretation
of
Buddha's
life
and
teachings.
It
was
filmed
in
Ladakh,
at
an
altitude
of
13,000
to
15,000
feet,
with
a
cast
and
crew
made
up
of
14
nationalities.
The
timing
is
perfect
as
it's
the
Buddha's
2,550th
birth
anniversary
on
May
13
(Buddha
Poornima.)
Where
do
you
think
the
film's
appeal
lies?
People
highly
appreciate
the
love
story
in
Samsara.
People
love
the
spiritual
message
that
is
transmitted
subtly.
People
admire
less
dialogues
and
more
feast
for
eyes.
And
above
all,
they
love
the
locations
and
Buddhist
theme
of
the
film.
They
also
admire
a
poetic,
yet
realistic
approach
to
filmmaking.
Did
the
censors
remove
the
Kamasutra
sequence
with
the
saree
and
wooden
beam?
No,
the
saree
and
wooden
beam
love
scene
from
Samsara
has
not
been
removed.
We
were
only
asked
to
delete
some
shots
and
not
scenes
of
frontal
nudity
from
that
scene.
Thus
the
purpose
of
the
scene
within
the
film
and
its
story
is
intact.
Basically Tashi is married, but betrayed his wife by making love to Sujata. They respected and appreciated the film and its creativity and originality. It's not sleazy at all. I didn't want it to be overtly sexual.
Now
there
are
Samsara
tours
to
Ladakh
being
organised
for
tourists
in
Switzerland...
After
the
film's
success,
not
only
Switzerland,
but
also
countries
like
Italy,
Austria,
Denmark
and
Australia
have
started
organising
Samsara
tours
to
Ladakh.
The
tour
covers
monasteries,
hermitages
and
villages
-
all
the
locations
where
the
film
was
shot.
Samsara is the first film to be filmed entirely on location. As per the Ladakh tourist authority, in last two years, Samsara has contributed to a massive tourism boom in the region.
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