Rahesh, director of Marainthirunthu Paarkum Marmam Enna, will take his film to the revising committee, after it was famously denied a censor certificate by the CBFC earlier this month.
Speaking to The Times Of India, Rahesh said:
“I was told that out of 475 films, only two, including mine, were rejected. I was OK with even a ‘U/A’ or ‘A’ certificate, but I was asked to go to the revising committee.”
Rahesh’s film deals with crimes that affect women and children.
“Gandhiji had said that India would truly be independent only when a woman can walk on the streets at midnight, wearing a lot of jewellery. The film begins with a card that says ‘true independence is when a woman can walk on the street at noon without the fear of being attacked’.”
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To make it feel more authentic, Rahesh says that he showed the way chain-snatching gangs operate. And also the dangers of using a phone while riding/driving. The purpose behind Rahesh’s film was lost on the CBFC who questioned him on the grisly nature of some scenes. “It makes no sense when you question me why I’m showing blood on the road. I think the entire purpose of the video is lost when you ask me irrelevant questions. When you play the ‘cigarette smoking is injurious to health’ video, you obviously show the cigarette. How can you censor the cigarette? I can’t say that my child is crying after seeing visuals of a damaged throat that’s shown in the video. I was appalled when I was asked by the censor board why I had to show the way the thieves planned the crime; the message and the awareness I was trying to create was completely lost on them.”
Rahesh is hopeful that the revising committee has a better attitude towards his film. Last year, another Tamil film on chain snatching – the critically acclaimed Metro was also rejected by the CBFC for the nature of its content.