EXCLUSIVE: CBFC plays safe after Oppenheimer-Bhagavad Gita controversy; censors 'inappropriate information' about Lord Krishna from Heretic

Last week’s Pushpa 2 – The Rule is doing historic business at the box office and is expected to rock the show in its second week as well. Kraven The Hunter, which was supposed to be released on December 13, has moved to January 1, 2025 reportedly due to paucity of screens following the insane demand for the Allu Arjun starrer. However, two Hollywood films managed to get screens and will be arriving in cinemas tomorrow as scheduled. One is the animated The Lord Of The Rings: The War Of The Rohirrim while the other is the psychological horror flick, Heretic. The censor process of the latter was completed way back in November, and it had to suffer bizarre cuts.

 

EXCLUSIVE: CBFC plays safe after Oppenheimer-Bhagavad Gita controversy; censors 'inappropriate information' about Lord Krishna from Heretic

 

As per the cut list, the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) passed the film but after the makers agreed to two cuts. The Examining Committee of the CBFC asked the studio to delete the ‘inappropriate information about the Hindu deity Lord Krishna’. The CBFC members made it clear that the cuts need to be done not just in the dialogue but also in the visuals. Hence, this 7-second scene was censored. In another scene, an eight-second scene of Mr Reed (Hugh Grant) throwing away religious books was also similarly asked to be deleted.

 

Once these changes were made, Heretic was passed with an ‘A’ certificate on November 27. The length of the film, as mentioned on the censor certificate, is 111.20 minutes. In other words, its run time is 1 hour 51 minutes and 20 seconds.

 

An industry expert commented, “These cuts are not surprising. The CBFC is cautious when it comes to scenes about religious figures and Gods, more so after the Oppenheimer (2023) episode. The Bhagavad Gita scene in that movie was passed by the CBFC and it led to a lot of criticism. Keeping that painful episode in mind, the CBFC decided to play safe in the case of Heretic.”

 

Besides Hugh Grant, Heretic also stars Sophie Thatcher and Chloe East. It is the story of two Missionaries who go through hell when they try to convert a reclusive, mysterious man.

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