Slamming the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) for overlooking purportedly problematic themes and portrayals in movies, former IPS officer-turned-politician K Annamalai recently criticised India’s lack of stringent censorship. His reaction comes after the controversy surrounding director Geetu Mohandas’ Yash-starrer Toxic, which has been facing backlash for its depiction of masculinity, sex and violence on screen.

The politician, however, refrained from naming the movie directly. Pointing out that people are frequently exposed to “extreme violence and depictions that objectify women,” Annamalai, who previously served as the president of the Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP) Tamil Nadu state unit, demanded that the CBFC do its job effectively. He, however, asserted that he was not calling for movie bans.

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K Annamalai demands stricter CBFC guidelines amid Toxic row

“The censor board should be even stricter. When we go to the US or European countries, look at how strict their censor boards are. In India, however, many scenes we see are unacceptable — scenes that have no regard for age groups like 16, 18, or 14. So, some films should be completely censored,” he pointed out while addressing the media on Thursday, August 27.

Annamalai added, “I’m not saying films should be banned, but they should be properly censored. Also, theatres should strictly enforce who can and can’t watch such movies. Even after many films get age-specific certificates, theatres don’t enforce them; they let everyone in. Only theatres in malls impose the rules properly.”

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He continued, “Some films have ruined the student community. You should follow the censor markings correctly. Even if a big star is acting, the CBFC should decide which scenes to allow and which not to allow. But some recent films certainly don’t give us joy. Because on one side, we scream until our throats are sore about women’s empowerment, rape cases, and atrocities against women.”

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“On the other side, a movie depicts a woman vulgarly, as a sex trophy. ‘I can have a wife and then a mistress,’ a film that was released 2-3 days ago shows. No matter what we say, cinema is a very powerful medium. It has started to show many wrong depictions,” he maintained.

For the unversed, Annamalai quit the BJP in June this year.

About Yash’s Toxic

Also starring Kiara Advani, Nayanthara, Huma Qureshi, Tara Sutaria, Rukmini Vasanth, and Sudev Nair in key roles, Toxic boasts cinematography by Rajeev Ravi, music by Ravi Basrur, Vishal Mishra, and Tanishk Bagchi, production design by TP Abid, editing by Ujwal Kulkarni, and action direction by JJ Perry, Anbariv, Kecha Khamphakdee, and Amrit Singh.

In her review of Toxic, SCREEN’s Shubhra Gupta wrote, “It may be Geetu Mohandas at the helm, but it is finally, and irrevocably, a Rocking Star Yash film, with eye-glazing, endless litany of violence.”