Bollywood is now known and appreciated for showcasing extremely talented actors & actresses portraying such great issues like LGBTQ, extra-marital affairs, open relationships, relationships after getting separated, etc. But do you know the filmmakers have been doing this & taking up controversial issues to showcase and normalize the thinking of Indian society for a really long time now? Maybe you do, and maybe you don’t but they have.
Sometimes, this exceptionally well-directed movie with amazing star cast got banned because it was too explicit for the audience to watch onscreen. But the filmmakers & the entire cast & crew of the movie did their part. They only chose to work on the movies because they believe in it. So why can’t we? Anyway, the scene is changing now, but these movies have been banned and can’t be found online (maybe one or two on YouTube) but these movies deserved recognition even though they were too bold for the Indian audience.
Here are 7 bold movies that got banned in India for showing too much nudity, sex, drugs & abusive language.
- Water (2005)
Deepa Mehta’s ‘Water’ was set in 1938, was banned by the Censor Board because it explored too much into the lives of Indian widows and how they are forced to live in poverty. The movies was set in one of the Ashram of Varanasi and took a dig at the controversial issues like ostracism & misogyny, which were, and somewhat still are very foreign to the Indian cinema.
Conservative protesters destroyed the sets & threatened the filmmaker to stop the film. The filming eventually got halted for five years but eventually, it was released in 2005 but it got banned because it touched the dark side of the Indian traditions. It continues to be banned in India.
2. Sins (2005)
‘Sins’ is a controversial Bollywood movie that was released in 2005 and was not accepted in India thus, the Censor Board decided to ban it because of too many nudes scenes in the movie. Vinod Pande was the director & producer of the movie. The movie’s plot revolved around a Catholic priest who gets romantically & physically involved with a young woman. Shiney Ahuja portrayed the character of a Kerala priest who falls for a woman Rosemary that was portrayed by Seema Rahmani.
The two get sexually involved and their need for each other makes it hard for them to accept in the society they lived in. The movie was filled with obsession; lust and his struggles to live in a society where he was to be at a pedestal a little lower than God. The Catholics of India didn’t find the concept of this amusing and asked Censor Board to ban the movie. They protested because they felt like the movie portrays Catholicism in a very immoral light.
- Bandit Queen (1994)
To your amusement, Shekhar Kapur’s ‘Bandit Queen’s’ premiered at the Cannes Film Festival in May 1994 but was banned in India. The film was a biographical adaptation of Phoolan Devi. It was banned after it was labeled straight away as ‘offensive’, ‘vulgar’, and ‘indecent’ and almost laughed at the cinematic conservatism of the Indian censor board.
The subject was considered as too explicit, sexual, involvement nudity, and abusive language. Phoolan Devi herself moved to Delhi High court seeking a ban on the screening of the movie because she felt that the makers altered with the facts of her life. The movie showcased a large part of rape scenes, the scenes where Phoolan was paraded naked in Behmai, etc., which the Censor Board felt, was too explicit for the Indian audience.
- Fire (1996)
Deepa Mehta’s ‘Fire’, which was released in 1996, was even though critically acclaimed internationally but not so much in the home country. The movie failed to impressed Hindu groups in India because it dealt & showcased the relationship between two sisters-in-law in a Hindu family. Exceptionally talented actresses Shabana Azmi & Nandita Das portrayed the characters. The movie received many negative comments from the leaders as well as the audience. The movie was eventually banned in India.
- Kama Sutra- A Tale of Love (1996)
Mira Nair took up a subject like Kama Sutra to showcase in India, which was not much appreciated by the people, as well as the Censor Board. As the name suggests ‘Kama Sutra- A tale of love’ was released in 1996, which was written by Vatsyayana was banned in India for being too bold for the audience. It’s funny that the movie was based on the literature of ancient Hindu but was not accepted when it was made with real characters.
It was termed as ‘too sexual content’ and was banned. The movie showcased the lives of four lovers based in 16th Century India was critically acclaimed & was hit internationally and among the film critics but it turns out the Censor Board didn’t feel like a movie should be showcased.
- The Pink Mirror (2003)
‘The Pink Mirror’ was one of the experimental movies that dealt with drag queen or eunuchs. It was the first-ever movie that was made in India which focused on transsexuals characters in the entire story. The movie centered around a plot where two transsexuals and a gay teenager trying to seduce a straight man. The movie was obviously banned because it took up a taboo topic to showcase. The Censor Board labeled the movie as ‘vulgar and offensive’. The movie was showcased at various international film festivals and was critically acclaimed & won awards too but it’s sad that the Indian Censor Board felt that the Indian audience wouldn’t be able to handle this much reality.
- Paanch (2003)
Based on the Joshi-Abhyankar serial murders in 1997, Anurag Kashyap’s movie ‘Paanch’faced a lot of backlash from the Censor Board for being too dark & violent. Due to the use of abusive language, the glorification of wars & killing and obviously sex & drugs made the board ban this movie. The movie never got released because of the same reasons. Curiosity around the movie is still on people’s minds. Guess we’ll never be able to watch how bold this movie was.
- Black Friday (2004)
The Censor Board in India also banned Anurag Kashyap’s ‘Black Friday’ for being too violent & insensitive. The movie revolved around the plot of Bombay Blasts that happened in 1993. It was adapted from a famous book of the same name. The movie was considered too dark & offensive for the public. The Bombay High Court gave the film stay order because the Bombay Blasts case was still pending in the court and asked it to remain slated to release until the trial got over.
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