Monisha Advani: ‘They haven’t made any cuts that hamper the story’

Sharvari and John Abraham’s characters join forces to fight caste oppression

Vedaa isn't exactly having a smooth road to the theatres. After John Abraham and Sharvari's action fare was screened for the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) on June 25, it was held up for over a month at the Revising Committee, which finally gave it a go-ahead on July 29 (Make up for lost time, July 31). At the time, director Nikkhil Advani had indicated that it was granted a ‘U/A' certificate without any cuts. However, it has now emerged that the makers were instructed to snip about 10 minutes of the film - which revolves around caste oppression - to receive the certification.

Monisha Advani

For starters, the CBFC asked the filmmakers to add a modified disclaimer and voiceover, lasting 1 minute and 16 seconds, stating that the movie is a work of fiction, inspired by true events. While a dialogue containing derogatory references to women had to be altered, a two-minute hanging scene was removed. A source says, "Some cuts were proactively suggested by Nikkhil, including the reduction of violence inside the court. This is where the film lost over six minutes. The Censor Board asked them to delete a scene that had a character listening to an audio track with Sanskrit shlokas. They also instructed that the text ‘Brahmin's son...Shudra's son' be dropped. The abusive term ‘behenkhor' was replaced."

In July, the director had expressed his disappointment when the CBFC had not certified Vedaa for almost a month (Never saw a time when the maker couldn't talk to CBFC, July 27). But now, the makers are not only happy with the certification, but also deem the suggested cuts reasonable. Producer Monisha Advani says, "Experts viewed the film and there was careful thought given to the film's material. The cuts that they've asked for are not unreasonable. It was heartening [to see] that their stance was to respect the movie's intent. The sentiment was, ‘We will not disturb your story in any way.' They said it's an important story that must be viewed by everyone. They haven't made any cuts that hamper the story."

Was the violence in the August 15 release reduced so that it could be given a ‘U/A' certification? "They were magnanimous with ‘U/A' so that they can allow a wider audience for the film. We don't have a problem with the action piece that has been reduced. We had a four-minute disclaimer in Batla House [2019] too." The month-long wait was excruciating for the team, and Monisha hopes that the Board will be cognisant of it. "CBFC must be empowered with more people so that timeline issues can be avoided. Films could be processed faster."