Director Pooja Bhatt may have found an alternative to promote her overtly sensuous film "Jism 2" by releasing it online after not getting clearance from the censor board, but it seems this time she will have no other option then to bow down to the Censor Board of Film Certification (CBFC) objections for releasing her film.
The CBFC sent Bhatt empty handed on Tuesday, refusing to certify her upcoming film, not even with an "A" certificate.
"Pooja Bhatt was sent home. We refused to certify her film. "Jism 2" will obviously get an 'A' certificate at a later stage but only when she incorporates the changes which we have asked for," a senior member of the board told the Times of India.
According to the CBFC, the lovemaking scenes in the present version are too explicit and too long and are needed to be diluted by at least 50 percent to get any certificate.
"We have asked Pooja to dilute the lovemaking scenes. There are certain norms and guidelines, which every filmmaker has to follow," J P Singh, the regional officer of CBFC told the daily.
"There are four lovemaking scenes in "Jism 2", all with Sunny Leone in them. The problem is not the number of such scenes, but their length. All four scenes are too long and will have to be cut so that their impact is diluted. There is no frontal nudity but kaafi explicit hai," the source said. "Hence, we did not issue a certificate."
Though it is obvious that the film will be rated "A" but boards says that the film is excessively explicit for theater audience.
"We will certify the film only when Pooja returns with the modified version, which should have the intimate scenes cut to half their length," the source added.
Surprisingly, Bhatt who was earlier adamant about accepting any cuts in the present version, has apparently agreed to the board's order and is working on diluting the intimate scenes without amputating the film.
"Verdict on #Jism2 censors tomorrow. No way I am going to accept cuts that mutilate my film. But if the cuts work,shall be gracious! ; )," Bhatt had earlier tweeted.
"I accepted the 2 cuts on Jism 10 yrs ago because it did not mar our narrative in the least & frankly, made our edit far more aesthetic," she later tweeted acknowledging the censor's order.
Bhatt told TOI that she will try to replace close-ups in place of wide angle shots to temper down the explicitly.
"I will introduce close-ups wherever wide angles have been used in the scenes in question. It's okay. It will not amputate my film," she said.
"I sat down and thought about what they had said. They have a problem with certain shots, like the one where Sunny turns around and a part of her breast is visible. If I really had a problem, I would have headed straight to the Revising Committee... I don't," Bhatt added.
Well, it's not the first time that her film is facing censor troubles, the original erotic thriller film "Jism" staring John Abraham and Bipasha Basu also faced similar heat.
"10 yrs ago when we 'censored' Jism, they cut out two shots that seem laughable in this day & age but were considered provocative then," she wrote on Twitter.
"Jism 2", starring adult entertainer Sunny Leone is set to release on Aug.03. The uncut promos released on YouTube have already crossed millions of viewer.
Earlier, its uncensored trailers were also sobered down for television audience.
