The Pahlaj Nihalani-headed Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) is back in the news once again for the wrong reasons. This time it’s the Katrina Kaif and Sidharth Malhotra-starrer Baar Baar Dekho that is at the receiving end after board members objected to a scene featuring a woman’s bra and a reference made to the cartoon pornography character, Savita Bhabhi.
The Nitya Mehra-directed film was given a U/A certificate even after the makers agreed to comply with the cuts. This obviously hasn’t gone down well with the team.
The move has come as a huge surprise because a scene featuring a bra was passed as many as 21 years ago in Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge and the film was given a U certificate. Quite a few films have been passed since then that have had bras in various scenes. Wake Up Sid (2009), Break Ke Baad (2010), Shirin Farhad Ki Toh Nikal Padi (2012) and Kapoor And Sons (2016), are just a few of them.
But Baar Baar Dekho isn’t the first film to become the victim of bra-censoring. The previous CBFC board, headed by Leela Samson, had also had a problem with a bra in Kangana Ranaut’s hugely appreciated Queen (2014). The film was passed with a U/A certificate only after the makers blurred the offending undergarment.
During the CBFC’s run-in with controversy in the Udta Punjab case earlier this year, the actress spoke about the incident. “In my film Queen, there was a funny moment with the bra. My director called and said they are blurring the bra. They said it is vulgar. Our director was furious about it. We are artistes. We see props as they are. A woman’s bra is not a danger to society,” Ranaut had said.
Baar Baar Dekho is scheduled for release on 9 September.