As part of the celebration of 100 years of cinema in India, film buffs will be able to view never seen movie scenes that had been chopped off by the censor board.
The scenes likely to be on view are Sholay’s uncensored and changed climax scene and chopped controversial and violent scenes from the movie Bandit Queen.
The week-long celebration, scheduled to begin in the last week of April, will also see discussions on the relevance of the Central Board of Film Certification in a democracy and how it has evolved over the years. For example, while on-screen lip-to-lip kissing was allowed in earlier movies, these scenes vanished by the 1990s. Sources in the I&B ministry said several past board chiefs and industry stakeholders are likely to take part in the deliberations.
It is understood that the ministry is speaking to filmmakers and other industry sources to secure the scenes that were removed by the censor’s scissors.
Sources stated that the CBFC doesn’t have a mechanism for the preservation of scenes chopped off on its directives.
The 1929 silent film A Throw of Dice will be screened accompanied by a live band to recreate the same experience as when silent movies were released along with performances by live bands that played music according to the mood of the scene.
The celebration will culminate in the National Films Awards ceremony scheduled for May 3.