Bollywood ‘Ghost’ Horrifies Censor Board

Bollywood ‘Ghost’ Horrifies Censor Board

The on-release Shiney Ahuja starrer Ghost has received the full censorial treatment. Apparently, its excessive gore-content prompted the censor board to make severe cuts. A particularly objectionable scene showing a female ghost’s crucifixion has also been censored.

Says the film’s director Puja Jatinder Bedi, “The censor board cut one of the most important scenes in my film. It’s a scene where the ghost gets crucified like Jesus Christ. The scene was very pivotal for the screenplay.”
However, when contacted J.P. Singh, the censor board’s Regional Officer Mumbai said that the crucifixion sequence had only been reduced, not removed.

Said Mr. Singh, “That scene is still there in the film. Only its length has been shortened to reduce the impact of the extreme brutality shown on a girl. The examining committee has given 5-6 cuts. All of them were extremely brutal. There was scene showing a dead body’s legs being cut. Another excessively violent scene showed a girl being beaten for a very long time by many people.”

Finally Ms. Bedi feels the cuts were not unjustified. “The censor board felt that the crucifixion would hurt religious sentiments of the Christian community. Also, the brutality was being perpetrated on a woman. The blood and gore content is high enough for Ghost to be rated as the most violent film ever. So the censors have toned down all the murder sequences.”