For five months, the team of Oru Pakka Kathai has been battling the Censor Board, after the CBFC denied the film certification unless the word “intercourse” was cut. Speaking to Silverscreen, director Balaji Tharaneetharan says the word is used in a medical context and even the revising committee had seen no issue with its use. Nevertheless, the film’s release remains stalled without certification.
Balaji Tharaneetharan says, “I have made a film with no violence, no double-meaning words, and no item numbers. Despite this effort to make a clean film, my film has been denied a censor certificate by the regional censor board. The board ordered a cut for the word ‘intercourse’. I disagreed.”
He said that they then had approached the revising committee. But even after a green light from the committee, certification wasn’t forthcoming.
He says, “The revising committee cleared the film with no objection to the word. Still, the board wanted to check with their head office in Mumbai to certify the film. Usually when a revising committee clears the film, it has to be certified. But in my case, whenever we inquire with the regional censor officer, he says that he is waiting for permission from Mumbai.”
Explaining that the word was used in a medical context, Balaji Tharaneetharan says the film isn’t even an adult film. He says, “The meaning of words change according to the context. Oru Pakka Kathai is not an adult film. In the scene with the word, there is a conversation between a girl and a doctor. That’s the context. It is mentioned as a medical term. Removing the word would impact the subject. I am not okay with that.”
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Shiva, who is co-producing the film with his brother Srinivasan, says, “The release is now delayed because we are stuck at the censor table. For the past five months we have been in talks with the censor board for a certificate. They have kept us waiting for a long time now.”
He added, “This delay has meant a huge loss for us. We hope the issue is resolved and we can plan the date for release.”
Oru Pakka Kathai, starring Kalidas Jayaram and Megha Aakash, is a teenage romance.