We Indians are going to see less of Charlize Theron – MUCH less – when her espionage thriller, Atomic Blonde, releases this Friday.
The film’s lengthy lovemaking sequence between the gorgeous Theron and her equally fetching co-star Sofia Boutella has been completely knocked off by the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC).
In the list of cuts ordered in Atomic Blonde by the CBFC, the directive about the lovemaking scene is sharp curt and unambiguous: “Delete the visual of the hand touching the bare breast in bed of two ladies, and delete the entire love-making (having sex).”
Now, there is a practical problem in this. The lesbian lovemaking in Atomic Blonde is not an ‘item number’ the way titillating material is inserted in Bollywood films. The plot is propelled forward by Theron’s love/ lust for Boutella’s character.
And didn’t Shabana Azmi and Nandita Das make love under a mosquito net in Deepa Mehta’s Fire 21 years ago? “You must ask why it was passed by whoever was in my place back then,” says CBFC chairperson Pahlaj Nihlani, refusing to comment any further.
In spite of an “A” certificate, Atomic Blonde has been instructed by the CBFC to cut the following scenes and words: Ms Theron’s “bare butt” in the bathtub, bare breast in the bathtub (Ms Theron is very cleanliness conscious in this film). Her nipples showing under a knitted sweater have also been ordered out. Also references to ‘cunt, cock, balls, bitch, prick cocksucker’ have been asked to be removed from the subtitles, though strangely not from the soundtrack.
The logic behind this dichotomy is simple: The way the characters mumble the offending words, most people wouldn’t know what they are saying.
Must say board members watch their films very carefully.
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