Film Industry: UAE, Singapore, Malaysia, Pakistan and even Nepal have banned some Bollywood films

UAE, Singapore, Malaysia, Pakistan and even Nepal have banned some Bollywood films

Videshis join banned wagon

It’s not just the audience and censors at home who’re touchy. Countries like the UAE, Singapore, Malaysia, Pakistan and even Nepal have banned some Bollywood films

With a censor board that prides itself in being our nanny and an audience whose modesty is outraged by every second movie release, India can be quite the prude when it comes to films. And don’t even mention the R word (religion). In fact, ‘banning’ is not just a term for us, but some sort of a constitutional right we practise ever so often. Already faced with the uphill task of not offending the tough audience back home, Indian producers, directors and actors are now encountering another adversary to box office success — the censors in foreign countries. Though we wonder — isn’t the inflammatory janta at home litmus test enough for any given movie’s sexual/violent/religious misgivings? But judging by the number of films banned in recent times, they seem to be annoying foreign censors a lot more than the desi ones! The most recent case is the Akshay Kumar-starrer OMG Oh My God!, which was banned for its “too sensitive” religious content in the UAE.

MIDDLE EAST MOVIES BANNED: Mausam, Raaz 3, Kya Super Kool Hain Hum, Lamhaa, Gangs Of Wasseypur, The Dirty Picture, The Girl In Yellow Boots
    When OMG Oh My God! was banned in the UAE, trade analyst Amod Mehra had said, “Not a single Hindi film which depicts caste or religion in any way has ever released in UAE.” Judging by the precedents to this ban, the statement rings true in the case of God Tussi Great Ho, where authorities said it violated Islamic teachings. “Those who saw the movie told the authorities they were shocked to find that Amitabh Bachchan played the role of ‘God’,” a Gulf News report said at the time. Even a movie like Lamhaa, that didn’t necessarily tackle the subject of religion but focused on violence in Kashmir, was banned for showing Muslims as terrorists. More recently, Gangs Of Wasseypur was also banned “for being offensive to the Muslim community at large and showing Muslims in bad light.”
    Another subject the Middle East won’t touch with a barge pole is sexuality, which is why The Dirty Picture, Kya Super Kool Hain Hum and Raaz 3 were deemed offensive. Samy Khoury, president, Jaguar Film International Distribution, told an Arabian magazine, “Kissing is a big no in Kuwait (which he says is more narrow-minded than the UAE, Qatar, Bahrain and Oman). Dancing films of all types are also banned. Such bans affect our business negatively.” In the same article, John Chahine, general manager of the UAE office at Italia Film, said, “Cutting or banning a film depends on the censor’s mood. The problem is that we can’t object to such decisions because there is no guide to follow... In the Gulf region, it’s given that sexual scenes should be cut.”
    It’s the same in the case of Hollywood movies, which are a lot more risque in content. While Black Swan never released in the UAE, and Sex And The City was banned, even a film like Valentine’s Day, which had no sexual content, was banned in Kuwait because of the Islamist MPs’ decision to ban the celebration of Valentine’s Day altogether as it contradicts Islamic teachings and values. On the other hand, a movie like Brokeback Mountain was banned in the UAE because they see homosexuality as a serious offence, punishable by flogging and imprisonment.

PAKISTAN MOVIES BANNED:
Agent Vinod, Ek Tha Tiger, Tere Bin Laden, Delhi Belly, The Dirty Picture
    “We have strict criteria due to which films that have themes that touch on anti-terrorism and are against Pakistan’s national institutions or security agencies ultimately have to be censored because they are against the national interest,” Pakistan’s Film Censor Board vice chairman Muhammad Ashraf Gondal had said, when asked about the ban on Ek Tha Tiger.
    Pakistan may have reversed its ban on Bollywood, but Agent Vinod, based on the story of an Indian RAW agent fighting international baddies, and Ek Tha Tiger, the story of an Indian agent in love with a Pakistani one, were banned even before anyone could say the word ISI. We guess the wounds are still RAW. “It was our judgment that it should not be allowed to be screened,” Gondal said of the ban on Agent Vinod, adding, “It falls under the negative codes of our censor.” Saif Ali Khan too adopted a less-apologetic stance, saying, “Well, Pakistan harbouring terrorists is quite an open fact, isn’t it? There are some negative aspects about Pakistan that we have shown.” The Pak censor board didn’t see anything funny in that statement, or even in the comedy film Tere Bin Laden. The latter dealt with a struggling Pakistani journalist who tries to sell an interview of a fake Bin Laden. It was argued that the film was “unsuitable for public distribution” and releasing it could trigger a terrorist attack.
    Bollywood films were completely banned in Pakistan till 2008 and the ban was proposed again in 2011 by a group of Pakistani artistes to promote the homegrown industry, Lollywood. For this reason, in 2010, Dabangg was banned to increase ticket sales of Lollywood movies during Eid. Also on the Pak banlist are movies like Delhi Belly, for its lewd content, and The Dirty Picture for its ‘subject matter and bold scenes.’

NEPAL MOVIES BANNED: Delhi Belly, Chandni Chowk To China, Ram Gopal Verma Ki Aag and Mission Kashmir
    Nepal has raised objections to sexually explicit movies like Delhi Belly and a particular dance sequence in RGV’s Sholay remake starring Urmila Matondkar. According to a Nepalese magazine, Himal South Asian, the posters of RGV’s movie, featuring an ‘obscene’ dance sequence, offended a Maoist member of that Board in 2007. The ban on Delhi Belly was due to the fact that the five objectionable scenes that the censor board had asked to be cut were still a part of the final version of the film running in theatres. The movie was released after distributors complied with the Board’s demand.
    Another movie that faced the ire of the board was Chandni Chowk To China, for claiming that Buddha, one of Nepal’s religious icons, was born in India. Nepali film director KP Pathak, who heads the Nepal Film Directors’ Association, which urges audiences to boycott all foreign films that project wrong messages, said, “About five minutes into the film, the narration introduces the hero as someone born in India, the Buddha’s birthplace.” The release of the film was followed by several protests in the country.
    For the longest time, an anti-Hrithik sentiment led to many of his movies being banned in Nepal. Hrithik reportedly told an Indian channel that Nepal and its people are “the place and people” he dislikes the most, something he has denied vehemently in the media, saying, “I have never spoken against Nepal, and why should I? I love the Nepalese people just as much as I love the Indian people.” However, the news of the alleged comment led to violent protests that killed four people, and eventually, all of Roshan’s movies were banned, including the then-released Mission Kashmir, until he apologised.

SINGAPORE MOVIE BANNED: Bombay The Media Authority of Singapore (MDA) is known for its strict rules of censorship. According to the blog by Singapore Film Students, SG New Wave, “The rule of thumb is that anything that can be linked to excessive sexual, homosexual, political, excessive violence, racial or religious issues has to be removed... The authorities claim that censorship is a necessary element of Singapore’s society simply because the general population is still largely conservative and such controversial content would prove too much to handle.” Even movies like Da Vinci Code faced the axe, while Bombay, Mani Ratnam’s film on the Bombay riots, was banned in Singapore.

MALAYSIA MOVIE BANNED: Fiza, OMG Oh My God!
According to a 2010 article on movie censorship guidelines in the Jakarta Globe, “Malaysia’s censors have loosened decades of restrictions on sexual and religious content in movies, but are still keeping a tight leash on sexuallycharged kisses and tiny bikinis. Muslims could not be shown consuming alcohol and gambling earlier, but the new guidelines state that it would be permissible if the filmmaker wants to ‘depict a person’s transformation from being evil to good’.” Sex scenes, including “homosexuality and unnatural sex,” and kissing on “body parts that could arouse sex, including the neck, chest and ears” were discouraged.
Malaysia, which earlier stipulated that Mel Gibson’s Passion Of The Christ may only be seen by Christians in the country, also banned OMG Oh My God! for its ‘sensitive religious sentiments’. The Karisma Kapur-starrer Fiza, a movie about a woman in search of her brother, who she later discovers had joined a terrorist network, was also banned in Malaysia. Most people there felt the topic of terrorism and Islam could have been ‘handled a bit more impartially’.