The buzz surrounding Dhurandhar 2: The Revenge refuses to die down, but amid its roaring box office, a curious debate has taken center stage. Actor-director To Deepak Tijor he points to what he sees as a shocking inconsistency in the way films are censored for theatrical release, and then consumed on OTT platforms.Taking to Instagram, Tijori shared a pointed note questioning the logic behind partially muting offensive words in theatrical versions, especially films that are rated for mature audiences.“I have to admit… maybe I’m missing something. Maybe I just don’t have the intelligence type General Board of Film Certification (CBFC) or its board members,” he wrote, setting the tone for criticism.He added: “Because I really don’t understand this: Why silence half of the abuse and let the other half go? In some places, keep some and completely silence others? Especially when the film is already certified 18+, which clearly means it’s aimed at adults. So who exactly are we protecting here? And from what… half a word?”
‘What logic is there when the OTT versions are uncut?’
Tijori also believes that this is a significant contradiction of the system. Highlighting how films reach OTT platforms shortly after their theatrical release, he questioned the effectiveness of such censorship.“And then there’s the part that really confuses me: the same movie, in a month or two, that’s released on OTT… completely dumb… out of touch… just as it should have been. And that’s where the kids end up watching it… at home… sitting with the family… everything is completely audible,” he said.“So I’m trying to understand, really, how much of a ‘half mute’ is it in adult theaters when the same thing is played at full volume at home shortly after? Maybe there’s a logic here that I can’t see…or maybe, just maybe…we’re overthinking the wrong things,” he concluded, adding #Justdustdstands. #Cinematic
What changes has the CBFC proposed?
According to the Central Board of Film Certification certification details, Dhurandhar 2: The Revenge underwent several changes before its release. Of the 21 suggested changes, the main four involved reducing scenes of extreme violence, including sequences described as eye gouging, beheading and brute force attacks.Additional tweaks included correcting the demonetisation dates in the captions and replacing “Lahore” with “Delhi” in the informational text.The film has got an ‘A’ certificate and runs for 3 hours, 49 minutes and 36 seconds in India. Notably, the cleaned-up version for Indian audiences is over six minutes shorter than its overseas counterpart after board cuts.
The macho box office continues
Directed by Aditya Dhar and directed by Ranveer Singh, Dhurandhar 2: The Revenge has been a record-breaker ever since its release. The film, which started with paid previews on March 18, has been running to rave reviews across the country.A sequel to the blockbuster Dhurandhar, the film also has a multi-star cast that includes Sanjay Dutt, Sara Arjun, R Madhavan, Rakesh Bedi and Arjun Rampal. According to trade tracker Sacnilk, the film has collected Rs 623.42 crore nett and Rs 744.58 crore gross in its first week in India. It has also performed well abroad, adding 261.92 million. With these numbers, the worldwide total stands at a whopping 1,006.50 crores, cementing it as one of the fastest films to cross the 1 billion mark worldwide.
