The censor board which has often been criticised for its objections has now said that Suman Ghosh, a national award-winning filmmaker, will have to mute out four words, including 'cow', from his new documentary featuring Amartya Sen.
The Indian economist has to be muted each time he says "Gujarat", "cow", "Hindu India" and "Hindutva view of India", in the movie titled "Argumentative Indian".
However, the Nobel laureate has refused to comment on it as he was only a subject in the film. "If the government has any reservations, there can be dialogue. It won't be befitting for me to make any comments on this," said Sen.
Meanwhile, Ghosh who is also an economist has been told that the movie will be released only when the required changes are made. The film will, however, be released with a UA certificate – requiring parental guidance.
"I was quite shaken. I was shocked but I thought, I have to argue," Ghosh, 44, told NDTV. Interestingly, Ghosh has said that he would not compromise and he was ready to fight all the way to court.
He said that he was really disheartened because he wanted to convey certain thoughts which the CBFC was trying to stifle.
"It asked me to beep the word Gujarat as Sen was speaking about Gujarat riots in the documentary. Then it asked me to beep the word cow which in my opinion was very funny. We were also asked to beep words like Hindu and Hindutva. We objected to it. We know how films like Udta Punjab and Lipstick under My Burkha went into controversies following its dispute with CBFC regarding film certification," Ghosh said.
"I don't agree with what happened with these films and rightfully the opposition voice was raised. But I never thought such parameters would be followed in documentaries which is not a scripted movie and when it is about a person with such international stature. I was a bit shocked to experience this," he added.
He has even refused to release the film scheduled for Kolkata this weekend but added that it will soon be released online by the end of the year.
"Now the big advantage is that I can release it online, the board has no control over that," said Ghosh.
