Censor Board gets tough with 'Rockstar'

Mumbai, Nov 5 (IANS) The Censor Board has clamped down on certain audio and visual portions of the much-awaited Ranbir Kapoor starrer 'Rockstar' that opens next week.

One would think Imtiaz Ali's musical odyssey about a small-town boy's journey from anonymity to superstardom on the wings of love would have flown through the censors, but it was not to be.

It was only after Ali and the film's producers agreed to make the required deletions that the Censor Board passed the film with a UA certificate.

The changes ordered by the board included the muting (beeping no longer allowed) of the words 'sex' and 'bastard' in the soundtrack -- words that commonly occur in our films and would have been allowed if the 'Rockstar' team had agreed to an 'A' certificate.

Likewise, a Hindi expletive which apparently Ranbir Kapoor's character uses whenever he's emotionally aggravated, has been muted wherever it occurs.

Again, the word, common in the films of Anurag Kashyap, Vishal Bhardwaj and other purveyors of cowbelt lingo, was not permissible in a film passed for kids with parental guidance.

Most notable of all is the board's instruction to do away with a reference to Tibetan freedom from Chinese dominion. Apparently, Imtiaz Ali has been asked to do away with a flag in the film that reads 'Free Tibet'.

'Rockstar' has been given two options regarding the flag that reads 'Free Tibet' -- either they can delete or blur the visual of the flag,' a source said.

'Not that there are too many Bollywood films that would dare to take a stand on a sensitive political issue like Tibet. 'Rockstar' does. The Censor Board has asked for its removal,' the source added.

The CEO of the Censor Board, Pankaja Thakur, has confirmed the alterations in the film.