Censor Board Modifies Ramayana References In Film, Cuts Over 7 Minutes Of Footage
Singham Again is all set to hit the theatres on November 1. Ahead of the release, the film went through the CBFC (Central Board of Film Certification) screener and was cleared with a U/A certificate. However, the film had to endure several scene cuts. The makers were asked to modify the 23-second-long “match cut” graphics depicting Lord Rama, Sita, and Lord Hanuman as Singham, Avni, and Simmba, respectively. They also requested that a 23-second visual of “Singham with Shri Ram, touching feet” be modified, reported Bollywood Hungama.
The report further added that, “The makers were then asked to delete the 16-second visual of Raavan grabbing, pulling and pushing Sita in the drama scene”. A 29-second scene of “Hanuman burning and dialogue of Simmba flirting” was deleted.
In four places, the dialogues of the character of Zubair (Arjun Kapoor) were deleted and suitably modified. In other instances, the dialogue between Arjun Kapoor‘s character and Simmba were modified. The visuals of the constitutional head were deleted and his dialogues were suitably modified in two places, the report added.
A 26-second dialogue and visuals were removed and appropriately adjusted as it “affected international diplomatic relations of India with neighbouring states”. Then, the scene of the beheading inside the police station was also blurred. The colour of the religious flag was appropriately changed, and the use of the Shiv Strota in the background music was removed. Finally, the sentence by Arjun Kapoor’s character — “Teri kahaani ka Raavan main hoon, tere chahite ko bhej” — was also modified.
Additionally, CBFC asked the makers to redraft the disclaimer stating that “This film is purely a work of fiction… Although the film is inspired by the story of Lord Ram, neither its narrative nor the characters should be viewed as revered deities… The story features contemporary characters of today… or societies, and their cultures, customs, practices, and traditions.”
This disclaimer lasts 1 minute and 19 seconds while the total length of the cuts made is 7 minutes and 12 seconds. After all these modifications, the CBFC passed Singham Again on October 28. The final length of the film is now 144.12 minutes or 2 hours 24 minutes and 12 seconds.
Singham Again is the fifth film in Rohit Shetty’s cop universe and the third installment in the Singham franchise. The cop universe launched in 2011 with the release of Singham, followed by Singham Returns in 2014. After that, Ranveer Singh was introduced as Simmba (2018) and Akshay Kumar was inducted with the 2021 film Sooryavanshi. Singham Again sees Ajay Devgn reprising his role of DCP Bajirao Singham. The film will clash with Kartik Aaryan’s Bhool Bhulaiyaa 3 at the box office this Diwali.
