‘Maatr’ Gets Censor Clearance in Time for Release

Producer Anjum Rizvi submitted the film as a completely new product with voluntary cuts.

Raveena will be seen playing the mother of a rape victim in the film. (Photo courtesy: Twitter/RJAlok)

The censor board has acted swiftly, and so have the producers of Maatr. The controversial film on rape which was refused censor certification on Saturday, obtained clearance on Tuesday afternoon, thereby paving the way for its release on time this Friday.

Apparently the producers did something awfully smart.

Instead of taking their film to the Revising Committee (RC) after the film was refused certification by the Examining Committee (EC), producer Anjum Rizvi submitted the film on Monday as a completely new product with voluntary cuts.

A Source

That did the trick. Maatr was cleared with some cuts for ‘Adults Only’.

The producers of <i>Maatr </i>came back to us on Monday with the film. Our Examining Committee broke the queue to re-view <i>Maatr</i>. This time the film was passed with three visual cuts and one general (audio) cut.

Pahlaj Nihalani, CBFC Chief

Also read: ‘Censor Board Is Bound by Archaic Laws’: Raveena Tandon On ‘Maatr’

When asked why the queue had been broken, Nihalani said:

From the time I took over as the chairperson of the CBFC, it has been my endeavour to ensure that no producers incur any losses because of the CBFC. We understand <i>Maatr </i>is a small meaningful film and any delay would be financially burdensome for the producers. My entire Examining Committee co-operated to ensure a swift certification for the film.

Also read: Amol Palekar Has No Experience in Censorship: Pahlaj Nihalani

Adds Nihalani, “I would like to say one thing about films which generate controversies through censor stories. The CBFC is not a tool for publicity. We do not leak out the cuts, restrictions, refusals, etc. Then how do these get into the public domain?”

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