The Central Board of Film Certification cleared India’s Most Wanted with a U/A certificate after urging its makers to delete scenes that made references to religious texts from Bhagvad Gita and Quran. According to a report by India Today, the scene has now been leaked online.
In a clip circulating on the internet, a terrorist quotes the Bhagvad Gita to justify killing. He states, “Aatma kabhi nahi marti, sharir marta hai. Main logon ko maar nahi raha, bas unki aatma ko doosre sharir mein bhej raha hoon. Yeh main nahi keh raha, Gita mein Shri Krishna ne kaha hai.”
Taking it ahead, Arjun Kapoor, who plays an undercover agent, responds to the above statement with a quote from the Quran, “Jo koi bhi kisi bekasoor ka katl karta hai, woh poori insaaniyat ka kaatil hai. Yeh hum nahi ke rahe, Quran Sharif mein likha hai.”
The video which is about 30-seconds long was shared by a Twitter user who questioned, “India’s most wanted promo got rejected by censors & dialogue removed for fear for inciting religious controversy. Is it fair on the part of CBFC? Check and decide.”
Asked about the cuts suggested by the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC), director Raj Kumar Gupta told IANS: “It (the reference to the Quran) was there in the film and it was in the film’s teaser when it came for the first time. It was allowed in the teaser, but when we submitted the film for certification, they informed us that it is a little sensitive.
“They asked us can we remove the Gita and Quran from the film because it is sensitive, and because it is something sensitive in nature, we did it.”
Did he find it unfair? “I don’t know if it’s unfair but we respect all religions, so we have to look at the sensitivity factor of it. That is why when the request came, we decided to remove it. Although it was there in the teaser, so the motivation was because it was allowed in the teaser, it would be allowed in the film. But because it was sensitive in nature and they requested us, we submitted the film without the Gita and Quran mention.”
India’s Most Wanted is about tracking a terrorist in a secret mission and arresting him without using bullets. The film will release on May 24.
With inputs from Agencies
