The censors displayed unprecedented liberality by passing an inherently violent story like "Paan Singh Tomar" with a 'UA' certification, which permits it to be an appropriate watch under parental guidance. Nevertheless it wasn't easy for director Tigmanshu Dhulia to get a clearance without toning down the language within the movie.
"Though the film is ready within the Indian heartland and the characters speak a coarse raw earthy bhasha, they do not use expletives as such. There's just one character played by veteran actor Rajendra Gupta, whose colourful language had the censorboard running for the scissors and gunning for the gaalis (abuses)," said a source just about the project.
Dhulia apparently needed to fight tooth and nail to prove that cleaning-out the character's language could be tantamount to emasculating him. He needed to wage an extended battle, and still he needed to finally expunge the expletives from the film, starring Irrfan Khan.
"There was a specially heated argument over one sequence towards the tip where Irrfan's character is talking to Gupta," said the source.
When contacted, Dhulia said: "Yes, the censor board did have an issue with Rajendra Guptaji's dialogues. He plays Irrfan's coach within the film. He uses a undeniable abuse in his language liberally and frequently.
"While I did comply with eliminate the various objectionable expletives, there is a scene towards the top when Irrfan visits his old coach, who asks, 'Why have you ever come to look me?' Irrfan says he's come to listen to his gaali. Now, not to have a gaali here could be impossible. The entire sequence is predicated at the gaali."
Dhulia apparently argued his case. However the censor board was adamant, arguing that a 'UA' certification meant children would hear a member of the training community abusing in a film.
Finally, Dhulia settled for a compromise, and tweaked the abuse.
"I needed to make no cuts in my earlier film 'Saheb Biwi Aur Gangster' regardless of its sexual content as it got a straight 'A' certificate. Regardless of the film's violent heart, the censor board agreed to offer 'Paan Singh Tomar' a 'UA' certificate. That widens my audience spectrum. So then I needed to make some adjustments.
Dhulia also needed to alter some scenes showing the characters smoking.
"But that's okay. I'm just happy that the censor board is asking at a movie with its given specific theme and milieu and never making arbitrary cuts," he added.
"Paan Singh Tomar" is a biopic at the former national steeplechase champion-turned-bandit. It released Friday.
