Ram Gopal Varma Calls Censor Board 'Outdated' Amid Jana Nayagan Delay: Protecting Society By Cutting Word Is Joke

Thalapathy Vijay’s last film, Jana Nayagan, is yet to receive the Censor Board’s clearance. Scheduled to release in theatres today, the political drama has been postponed indefinitely after the Madras

High Court put a stay on its release until the next hearing on January 21. Ram Gopal Varma reacted to the controversy swirling around Jana Nayagan and called the Censor Board ‘outdated’. The filmmaker further slammed the entity for believing ‘that cutting a word in a film, trimming a shot, or blurring a cigarette will protect society.’ The Rangeela director is active on X and often calls out unfair practices in cinema.

Ram Gopal Varma reacts to Censor Board restrictions in India

On X, Ram clarified that his tweet is not ‘in the context of just Jana Nayagan’. He wrote, “It is truly foolish to think that the censor board is still relevant today.” The filmmaker added, “It has long outlived it’s purpose, but it’s being kept alive out of laziness to debate it’s relevance now , and it is the film industry as a whole which is mainly responsible for this.”

Citing examples of how digital media is prevalent now and content of all sorts is available to every age group, Varma reacted, “In this reality, for the honourable censor board to believe that cutting a word in a film, trimming a shot, or blurring a cigarette will “protect society, ' is a Joke.” He further explained, “The censor board was born in an era of scarcity when images were rare, access was limited, and the state controlled the media.”

'Censor Board insults viewers'

Monitoring the present scenario of social media and digital exposure, he shared, “In such times as now, censorship doesn’t prevent exposure… it only insults the viewers. We are supposed to have smartness to decide who should rule us but not what we want to see or hear??? What the censor board actually does now is not protection, but only theatrics . It’s a ritual of authority in Oscar worthy performances where scissors replace thinking, and moral pretence moves around in a disguise called responsibility.” Terming hypocrisy ‘dangerous’, Varma pointed out, “The same society that freely scrolls through graphic violence on social media suddenly becomes “concerned” when a filmmaker shows something in a theatre.”

The filmmaker elaborated that, “Cinema is not meant to be a classroom where lessons are taught. They are mirrors, view points, expressions and opinions meant to entertain The job of the authorities is not to edit or cut them out, but to trust citizens enough to decide for themselves, which is the main point of freedom of speech and expression, guaranteed under the constitution.”

Ram Gopal Varma says 'censorship doesn't make sense'

He penned down his views and said, “Age classification makes sense. Warnings of the content makes sense. Censorship does not. Continuing to defend the relevance of the censor board today is like insisting on a watchman for a building whose walls have already been broken and everyone can see what’s inside.” Ram concluded his note by appealing to the film fraternity to call out the censor board, not just over a movie. Besides Jana Nayagan, Parasakthi, the latest Sivakarthikeyan and Sreeleela film, went through a tough CBFC screening. Over 20 cuts were instructed before clearing it for release.