Filmmaker Tigmanshu Dhulia has spoken about censorship in Indian cinema and recalled an episode involving Dilip Kumar’s 1961 classic Ganga Jamuna.
What’s Happening
Speaking at The Wire’s State of Media and Film Industry event, Tigmanshu claimed that the film faced an objection from the censor board over a dialogue and that the issue eventually reached then Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru.
According to Tigmanshu, the objection concerned a scene in which Dilip Kumar’s character says “Hey Ram” while dying.
He claimed that the censor board questioned the use of the dialogue because Dilip Kumar was Muslim. The actor, born Muhammad Yusuf Khan, played a character named Ganga in the film.
Tigmanshu said the argument put forward by the makers was that the character was Hindu and could therefore say “Hey Ram”. However, he claimed that the censor board initially refused to accept this explanation.
He said, “The censor board stopped the film and gave a very strange reason. They said, ‘How can you say Hey Ram? You are a Muslim.’ The argument was, ‘The character’s name in the film is Ganga. He is a Hindu. He can say Hey Ram.’ But the censor board did not agree.”
Matter Was Brought To Jawaharlal Nehru
Tigmanshu further claimed that the matter was eventually brought to Jawaharlal Nehru, who was the Prime Minister of India at the time. According to the filmmaker, Nehru watched Ganga Jamuna and did not find anything objectionable in the film.
He also recalled what happened after the film was cleared. Tigmanshu said there was a concern that clearing Ganga Jamuna without addressing other films held up by the censor board could create the impression that Dilip Kumar had received special treatment because of his alleged connection with the Prime Minister.
He claimed that the other films pending before the censor board were subsequently cleared as well.
Background
Tigmanshu will next be seen in Ghamasan. Starring Arshad Warsi and Pratik Gandhi, the film is set to premiere on ZEE5 on September 11.
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