Selective censorship creates confusion: Jaaved Jaaferi on 'Satluj' row

Mumbai, Jul 8 (PTI) Actor Jaaved Jaaferi says censorship has become selective and what happened to “Satluj”, which was taken off from an OTT platform within 48 hours of its release, was wrong.

“Satluj”, starring actor-singer Diljit Dosanjh, released in India last Friday on streaming service ZEE5 but became unavailable on the platform just two days later in India. The government sources later said the film was taken down because of “security concerns” and obligations under IT Rules 2021.

The film, based on the life of human rights activist Jaswant Singh Khalra, was stuck in censorship for over three years and was given over 127 cuts by the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC).

However, the movie, earlier titled, “Punjab 95″, was released without

any cuts on streaming. “The big question mark is that there is very selective censorship happening across the board, whether it’s on social media, in films, in stand-up comedy. There’s no explanation (for it). I felt this was wrong,” Jaaferi told PTI in an interview when asked about “Satluj” being pulled off from the platform.

“You can read between the lines, whatever you want to read, people are intelligent,” he said.

The actor is awaiting the release of his next movie, “Dhamaal 4”, in which he reprises his role of Manav. Jaaferi said censorship decisions are often taken over trivial aspects while more serious things are overlooked.

“Things which actually should be censored, which are extremely violent or hateful, they are being promoted,” he said, describing how one of his dialogues in “Dhamaal 4” faced objection.

“It was not a vulgar action, it’s a very simple, very much in character of Manav, he will not do something vulgar. So, you have a certain rule across the board. But it’s very selective, like, this will work here, this won’t work. So, it’s very confusing and frustrating.” The actor said that the purpose of film certification should be classification rather than censorship, especially in a democratic setup.

“…For example, in the West, they have a certificate for different age groups like, this is for PG (Parental Guidance), PG-13, or this is R (restrictive)-rated. So, they check the IDs,” Jaaferi said.

Drawing a parallel, the actor compared censorship to age restrictions in clubs or warning labels on cigarettes.

“It’s like a cigarette: it’s harmful, you’re writing on the pack that, ‘This is harmful for health’, and giving people all the information along with cancerous photographs. But then a kid can go and buy a pack of cigarettes and smoke it. So, I don’t understand this. The balancing of this is somewhere a little skewed.” Directed by Indra Kumar, “Dhamaal 4” will also star Ajay Devgn, Riteish Deshmukh, Arshad Warsi, Sanjay Mishra, Sanjeeda Shaikh, Anjali Anand, Upendra Limaye, Vijay Patkar and Ravi Kishan, among others.

It is set to release in theatres on July 10. PTI KKP BK BK