Why only film industry has Censor? Agni Shridhar

Agni Shridhar"s directorial debut venture Thamassu has cleared the Censor test on the last Thursday and is now ready to release on June 11. But the debutant director is deeply upset with the decision of the Karnataka Censor Board. The reason behind his disappointment is that the Board has suggested him to delete/mute a controversial dialogue and a few words from the song 'Maaro Allah, Maaro Ram…".

Agni Shridhar spoke to Oneindia about the Board"s decision on Saturday. Shridhar said, “I"m not at all satisfied with the decision of the Censor Board. I knew that the film would get 'A" certificate, but I didn"t expect the Board would ask me to delete any dialogue. I reluctantly accepted this decision just because of Nagaraj, the president of the Board." He added, "Nagaraj is really a nice guy and he convinced me about the formalities of the Board. Usually, a film needs 15 days to get the Censor certificarte, but Thamassu has got it within two days, which is first time in the history of Censor Board."

The Board has suggested the film bosses to delete/mute a controversial dialogue and a few words from the song 'Maar Maar Allah Allah…" stating that they can cause communal riot in the state. When asked about whether deletion would affect the story/theme of the film, he said, “This deletion of few words would not harm either the story or the theme of the film, but it will affect on the continuity of the dialogues." He added, "

However, he seemed to be quit upset with Censor process and he insisted that there should not be a Censor Board for a film industry. He said, “There are several ways for a person to express his thoughts i.e. writing, painting, singing and dancing etc. None of these forms of art has a Censor Board. There is no Censor test for newspapers, TV and online portals. Why only the film industry has Censor Board? Even a film is a form of expression and it should not have Censor test."

In an interview to a private Kannada TV news Channel, the director had said that he would appeal to the Delhi court, if he didn"t get justice here. When asked about it, he said, “Yes! I had said, but I"m not going to do it. You see, the producer has invested crores together on the film. If I approach a higher court for justice, the judicial process is lengthy and it will take more than two years. The audience can"t hold their curiosity to watch the film for two years. It is a big loss for the producer and this reason made me accept the decision."

There are several Hindu-Muslim fundamental groups in Karnataka, which are always protesting against issues like this. When asked about whether the film would face such a protest from fundamentalists, he said, “Definitely not! Because I strongly believe in secularism and the movie doesn"t support or condemn any religion. The film is an honest depiction of the realistic picture of problems that Hindu and Muslims are facing today. It doesn"t exhibit any controversial thought about any religion. I"m sure that the people from both Hindu and Muslim community will accept the ideas expressed in Thamassu."

Stay locked to Oneindia for more updates on the film Thamassu.