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  1. Two Minutes Of Casino Royale Cut For India Release

    By Devin Zydel on 2006-11-26

    The Telegraph reports with a new article on the cuts that Casino Royale received for its release in India.

    The cuts consisted of two love scenes as well as the torture sequence between Daniel Craig’s James Bond and Le Chiffre played by Mads Mikkelsen. The former two scenes were reduced to quick flashes, while the latter was edited down by approximately 60%–a total of two minutes cut from the finished film.

    What is interesting to note is that the censor did not demand such cuts be made, but rather that distributor Sony Pictures Releasing India (SPRI) suggested them in order to earn the U/A certificate (thus bringing in a larger audience). Vinayak Azaad, regional officer for the censor board in Mumbai, said: ‘We are not into moral policing. The cuts were suggested by Columbia Pictures. As a purely adult movie, we had cleared it earlier without any cuts.’

    Lalit Chetnani, chief finance officer for Sony Pictures, the distributors for Columbia, confirms: ‘We volunteered the cutting of the scenes as we wanted a U/A certificate for the film to open it to a larger audience. The censor board suggested that we reduce the intimate scenes to flashes and the torture scene by 60 percent. The censor board, satisfied with what we had cut, gave us the U/A certificate.’

    ‘We are a layered society, so what may be taken easily by an urban audience may not go down well with those watching the same film in suburban areas. Films such as James Bond are dubbed in several regional languages, and dubbed versions have a far greater reach in India than their English versions, and that often calls for constant vigilance,’ said Sharmila Tagore, chairman of the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC).

    CBn previously reported that Casino Royale set a record opening in India, where it had the best opening weekend for any foreign film in the country.

    Stay tuned to CBn for all the latest Casino Royale coverage.

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