Nawazuddin Siddiqui-starrer Haraamkhor movie, one of the controversial movies of 2016, got banned by Central Board of Film Certification(CBFC) for its provocative and bold plot. However, the movie won several accolades at national and international film festivals but it faced hurdles from the so-called Censor Board in July this year.
Claiming that the subject was “very provocative”, Haraamkhor was banned. CBFC headed by controversial man Pahlaj Nihalani, who is usually in controversies for trying to make the Indian entertainment industry a ‘Sanskari industry.’ The movie has now been cleared by the Film Certification Appellate Tribunal (FCAT).
Plot and Story of Haraamkhor movie:
Haraamkhor featuring Nawazuddin Siddiqui and Shweta Tripathi revolves around the relationship between a school teacher and his teenage student. Haraamkhor has won an award at the Mumbai film festival 2015. It also won at the NFDC pitch lab and even received a grant from Vidhu Vinod Chopra at the Film Bazaar last year.
Haraamkhor movie Filmmaker’s fight against the system after CBFC’s ban:
After the Examining Committee of the CBFC refused to certify our film, the filmmakers appealed to the Revising Committee in July and were handed an ‘A’ certificate and two cuts which they were not ready to accept as it was impacting the story.
The Revising Committee order read: ‘Wherever the teacher (Shyam) hits woman or women to be reduced to flash so that the details are not shown.’ Second: ‘The love making scenes between the teacher and student (Shyam and Sandhya) to be reduced to flash.’
The good thing about this fight was that even post the ban by CBFC, producers Guneet Monga, Feroze Alameer and Anurag Kashyap along with director Shlok Sharma decided to get justice for the movie which made them file a case with the Film Certification Appellate Tribunal.
A special panel was created to watch the movie after the appeal. And during this, their perception about the movie changed. Now the FCAT has passed a landmark judgement and Haraamkhor is not only got cleared but also been giving a U/A certificate.
What the Haraamkhor movie team said after getting the movie cleared?
The makers felt gratified when the tribunal recognised the social value of their film and were kind enough to support them and give it a U/A certificate. In their words, they felt that the film could be used for “furthering a social message and warning the girls to be aware of their rights”.
Expressing his gratitude over the development, writer-director of Haraamkhor, Shlok Sharma, said, “ Every film has its destiny and I’m very happy that Haraamkhor has finally fulfilled its. I’m so grateful to everyone who stood by me and the film through these testing times, especially Nawazbhai, Shweta and Guneet.”
The film is all set to come on the silver screen on 13th January 2017.
