Kalki Koechlin’s ‘Margarita, with a Straw’ faces cuts from the Censor Board

After watching the film, the Examining Committee (EC) asked the makers to tone down a kissing scene between Kalki and Sayani Gupta, to which Shonali Bose says, “There is a 12-second long kiss between the two characters, but the CBFC had problems with it. They want me to reduce it to just a few seconds. I explained that as it is their first kiss, it can’t be that brief.”

[related-post]

The members also asked her to edit out two other scenes, one of which involved helping the cerebral palsy patient go to the toilet.

Shonali shares, “I told them this is reality, not titillation. My cousin sister suffers from cerebral palsy and when nobody else is around; her father has to help her go to the toilet.”

She adds, “The film will go to the Revising Committee now. I hope better sense prevails as the EC, to my shock, told me they had moral guidelines to follow. I’m not going to settle for a single cut and will go to the Tribunal if required. It’s a sensitive film and the CBFC should see it in the context it’s made. Fortunately, my producers are backing me in this fight.”