'It's hypocrisy to ban cinema when everything is available online'

Actor Anshuman Jha, who is currently seen onscreen in "Chauranga", feels the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) is making hypocritical decisions by putting restrictions on cinema. He asks how will it affect the masses when everything is available online without any cuts.

Directed by Bikas Ranjan Mishra "Chauranga" has received critical acclaim at various film festivals abroad. However, the film, which hit the screens in India on Friday, had to undergo several cuts for showcasing some "intimate scenes" for its release in India.

Criticising this decision of CBFC, Anshuman has called it "hypocrisy".

"'Chauranga' and 'Mastizaade' trailers released on the same day. Have you seen 'Mastizaade' trailer? You can't have different yardsticks for different things. Everybody watches everything on YouTube in any case," Anshuman told IANS.

"If you have rated a film, then let people decide which content they want to watch and which not. Don't give a film A certificate and then further ask to cut a few scenes.

"It's a little redundant to do something like that. 20-second kiss should be cut down to five-second kiss. I don't understand this funda. Either you don't show any kissing scenes in a film or pass it as it is," Anshuman, best known for his roles in films like "Love Sex aur Dhokha", "Yeh Hai Bakrapur" and "X: Past Is Present", added.

Though he shared that this didn't happen with a film for the first time.

"In 'X: Past Is Present', it's an adult film, but I had to re-dub the word 's***a', because it is not there in the list of CBFC. So 'F**k' was allowed but not 's***a'. Though I think f**k is a more obscene word than 's***a'," he said.

Anshuman further quipped that "today various mediums have opened up so much that people will watch whatever they want to."

He explained: "Internet has given that power to everyone. Cinema is a piece of art. So you are restricting art if you are suppressing these things which is what I am against.

"Either we have specific divisions like they have in the West - under 10, under 14, parental guidance. But you should not make cuts even when you are giving a film an A (adult) certificate."

However he added that today's generation is "going for a revolution process as a society. So I think our generation and the upcoming one will hopefully take care of censorship so that there is no restriction on art."

Set in Bihar "Chauranga" is called a "very violent film."

"But it's not physical violence. It's the emotional current which kind of runs in the rural areas of Bihar. The film is very silent," Anshuman said.

The actor, who is a trained dancer and a martial artist, will next be seen in "Robinhood Ke Pote".

"My idea is now to mix and do more films. Because of my theatre work, I was not able to do film as there were a lot of shows coming in. In March I decided that I will take sabbatical from theatre. After that I shoot for 'Robinhood Ke Pote'," Anshuman said.