Bond and gagged: Spectre's kissing scenes censored by Indian film certification board

He is known for his competence with gadgets, guns and members of the opposite sex. But Indian filmgoers heading to see the new James Bond movie, Spectre, may only see the first two after the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) reportedly ordered all scenes involving kissing to be cut by 50% for the local release, according to Variety. The move – the most recent example of the prudish sentiment of Indian censors – has been criticised by CBFC board member Ashoke Pandit, who claimed to have been sidelined from the decision-making process and accused the board’s director and Bollywood film-maker Pahlaj Nihalani of being a stooge for the socially conservative Indian prime minister Narendra Modi. Last year, Nihalani directed a music video that glorified Modi. “Spectre is an internationally applauded film, but again Pahlaj Nihalani messes it up by shading it with his own thought process,” Pandit wrote on Twitter. “Nihalani’s action should not be a reflection of my choices. I feel it’s a mockery of the freedom of a film-maker,” he added. Pandit suggested Nihalani’s actions were compounded by the fact that the director had helped introduce the trend for “vulgarity” in Indian cinema, but was now “giving sermons to film-makers”. The censored version of Spectre, which is directed by the Oscar-winning British film-maker Sam Mendes, has been rated U/A, suggesting parental discretion for children under 12, for Indian cinemas. It opens there on 20 November. Censors allegedly ordered cuts to four scenes in which Bond, played by Daniel Craig, romances French actor Léa Seydoux, the film’s female lead as Dr Madeleine Swann, and Italy’s Monica Bellucci, who plays widow Lucia Sciarra. Nihalani has been in the hot seat since January, when previous CBFC incumbent Leela Samson and more than half of the organisation’s board members resigned amid complaints of “interference, coercion and corruption”. Nihalani’s connections with India’s ruling Bharatiya Janata party have been controversial. Last February, the board reportedly postponed plans to introduce a list of banned words and content, including a wide range of profanity, referring to Mumbai by its colonial name Bombay and scenes depicting violence against women. In the wake of the CBFC’s decision to censor Spectre, hashtag #SanskariJamesBond, meaning a version of 007 that complies with traditional Indian cultural mores, has began trending on Twitter. It has led to users posting a multitude of satirical memes, including photoshopped efforts of a woman in a sari replacing Ursula Andress in the Swiss actor’s classic bikini scene from Dr No, and a version of Craig with traditional Indian facepainting and full handlebar moustache.