The Goddess Complex

Even in the credits, all the images of the various Hindu goddesses such as Lakshmi, Saraswati and Durga have been blurred. What remains is a smudge of colours, with archival photos of protests by women. When Pammi, a housewife played by newbie Pavleen Gujral, jokingly asks her friends not to be jealous of her “Indian figure”, the phrase is a long beep in the film. “We call this the ‘muted and blurred version’ of the film. There was a scene in which Sarah Jane-Dias, who plays a photographer, says ‘Saraswati mere mein hai’. We were asked by CBFC to cut it, and were categorically asked not to have any references related to goddesses throughout the film. It makes no sense,” says Nalin.

“Unaware” of the video doing the rounds on social media, CBFC chief Pahlaj Nihalani says, “They have made the cuts voluntarily”.

“Hurt” by the final cut, Nalin and team were further convinced about the Facebook video after going through the feedback they received. “Even after we put up the video, people asked us if this was real or we were just kidding. The public finds it equally hard to digest that such cuts have been made,” says Palin.

That fighting back was an option is something the filmmaker and his team have heard from people too many times in the last few days. “It’s an independently financed film, and we don’t have the time to go through that phase of reviews. We struggled to make the film, we struggled to sell the film, and now we just wanted it to get an India release finally,” says Mridul.