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Watch: Angry Indian Goddesses team hits back at the Censor Board with a cheeky video

Geetika Mantri | Updated on: 14 February 2017, 0:30 IST
QUICK PILL
  • International filmmaker Pan Nalin\'s Angry Indian Goddesses got plenty acclaim abroad but faced the wrath of the Indian Censor Board.
  • Words like \"lunch\" were beeped and images of goddesses like Kali and Laxmi were blurred.
  • Read on to find out what the Censors found offensive in the film and how the film\'s team got back at them.

When the censor board removed words like "lunch" and cut out undistorted images of female Indian deities from Pan Nalin's 'Angry Indian Goddesses', what did the team do?

On 7 December, a video as feisty as the film itself was posted on their Facebook wall. The caption read, "Bringing to you on popular demand and as promised, an Exclusive Video of "ALL THE XXXXXX'S which the Censors don't want you to watch or hear."

Angry-Indian-Godesses-video-1 . Screengrab

A little behind, perhaps?

Press play and you're greeted with a clipping from the film where two women are dancing (not in the sexed up manner you see in item songs but more like you'd expect at a slumber party) and four others watch from a window. Responding to one's comment on her 'plump' behind, the latter defends herself, saying,

"Listen, I have the Indian figure, okay?"

Angry-Indian-Godesses-video-2 . Screengrab

Screengrab

The cheeky video then freezes the frame, making the so-called problematic dialogue pop out with a cheesy, creepy font. And then the word "censored" unrolls on the phrase like a duct tape.

And guess what was censored here? Nope, it's not the word "ass". It's the phrase "Indian figure".

Angry-Indian-Godesses-video-3 . Screengrab

Screengrab

Hang on, don't let your eyeballs pop out just yet. There's more.

Hungry for lunch anyone?

Coming up next, we have the word "lunch". The context?

Girls checking out an attractive guy and referring to him as a meal.

Angry-Indian-Godesses-video-4 . Screengrab

Screengrab

Because hey, sanskaari Indian girls will turn rotten if they look at boys the same way boys have looked at them in film after film. Nope, we simply cannot have that!

The goddesses must be angry

And here, the Censor Board literally censored the goddesses in the film. No, we don't mean the actresses but what appeared to us seemingly unblemished, respectful images of goddesses like Durga and Kali.

Angry-Indian-Godesses-video-5 . Screengrab

Screengrab

Apparently, bhagwaan sabke nahi hote!

Pulling the wrong 'strings'

Even musical instruments weren't spared from the fury of the censor. Because when a group of seemingly intoxicated women discuss how a well a guy plays the guitar and *ahem* them, has it ever ended in anything good?

Angry-Indian-Godesses-video-7 . Screengrab

Screengrab

Sorry, guitar, you were apparently too forward for the Indian mentality. Apologies!

Also read: Angry Indian Goddesses: beneath the banter, it's a radical sock-in-the-gut

Because sarkar is only for the common 'man'

Looks like the Pahlaj Nihalani took the word "man" in the phrase "common man" a little too seriously. The result?

A woman asks "sarkar kaun hoti hai decide karne wali?" (who is the government to decide?) and ends up getting - no points for guessing - censored.

Angry-Indian-Godesses-video-8 . Screengrab

Screengrab

Tongue hockey may be offensive, but not in the way you think

And finally, you reach the pinnacle where the angry Indian goddesses - both deities and characters, are blurred over.

There is a sequence in the film where the main characters try to imitate the facial expression of goddess Kali. What are the girls doing you may ask? This -

Angry-Indian-Godesses-video-9 . Screengrab

Screengrab

We know you're getting tired of hearing it, but it was... censored.

While effectively comic, the video raises two vital points.

  • The Censor Board censored things and kept what would suit Indian sensibilities. But do they have comprehensive grasp of what constitutes them?
  • The exaggerated sound and visual effects are jarring to the viewer, breaking the continuity - which is exactly what arbitrary cuts do to a film.
Angry Indian Goddesses - Censored!

Exclusive Facebook Release - Bringing to you on popular demand and as promised, an Exclusive Video of "ALL THE XXXXXX'S which the Censors don't want you to watch or hear." Tune in! Now that you've seen this, catch the rest in theatres. BOOK HERE: http://bit.ly/AIGBookNow #AIGCensored #AIGtheFilm #AngryIndianGoddesses (P.S~Apologies for the delay!)

Posted by Angry Indian Goddesses on Monday, December 7, 2015

Whether you agree or disagree, the video certainly tickled our funny bones.

How about you?

First published: 9 December 2015, 19:03 IST