Anubhav Sinha's 'Bheed' faces the wrath of CBFC; details inside

Central Board of Certification (CBFC) is infamous for its censorship which panders to the serving government. Many a time, directors have waged legal cases against the institution for vehement censorship. Recently, Anubhav Sinha's Bheed faced the wrath of the Prasoon Joshi-led board. As per a screenshot making rounds on social media, there have been 13 cuts imposed on the film.

Sinha is known for making hard-hitting films on socio-political issues. Bheed revolves around the migrant exodus of 2020 due to the COVID-19-induced lockdown. The board has asked the makers to remove references to Prime Minister Narendra Modi's lockdown speech. Recently, the makers re-released the trailer replacing Modi's speech. All cuss words have been deleted. This dilutes the honest portrayal of the scenario and storytelling.

The board asked to remove visuals of police brutality. Police brutality is a reality in India and over the years, we have seen the wrath of the police force. The frequency of usage of "Tablighi Jamaat" has also been reduced in the film. Interestingly, in 2020, right-wing news channels credited Tablighi Jamaat for the rise of COVID-19 cases in India.

CBFC has muted the word "jihad" in "Corona Jihad"—a term coined by right-wing journalists. As the saying goes, "Cinema is a mirror of society." However, the censor board has often been accused of curbing freedom of speech and expression. Apart from Bheed, there are several movies that have faced the wrath of CBFC, which includes Shah Rukh Khan's Pathaan.

Anurag Kashyap has had a huge fight with CBFC over the years. He openly called out the then CBFC chief Pahlaj Nihalani on Twitter and went to Bombay HC with the Udta Punjab certification case back in 2016. Reportedly, Udta Punjab was "advised" to have 89 cuts for theatrical release. Zoya Akhtar once spoke about how morality changes with changing governments in India.

One of the famous tussles includes CBFC versus Sanjay Leela Bhansali's Padmaavat. The board recommended changing the film's name and adding CGI on Deepika Padukone's outfit in the song Ghoomar. This happened after protests by the right-wing group Karni Sena.

Bheed is headlined by Rajkummar Rao and Bhumi Pednekar. The cast also includes Pankaj Kapur, Ashutosh Rana, Kritika Kamra, Dia Mirza, Kumud Mishra, and Aditya Shrivastav, among others. It is bankrolled by Sinha's Benaras Media Works and Bhushan Kumar's T-Series. The story is penned by Sinha, Saumya Tiwari, and Sonali Jain. The film is shot in monochrome by Soumik Mukherjee.