Top 10 Movies Banned In India

India produces the highest number of movies every year in the whole world. But not all movies have seen the light of the day. Many movies have been banned in the country and haven't reached the audience till now. The movies get banned for various reasons, including strong language, sexual content, extreme violence, nudity, hurting the sentiments of any particular religious groups, films based on Kashmir conflicts, etc. Today we're looking at the films the Indian Censor Board banned.

1. Fire (1996)

Deepa Mehta-directed Fire was highly acclaimed worldwide. But in India, it did not even release as it showed the story of two homosexual women, and that was very controversial at the time. Various Hindu groups like Shivsena took offense to the storyline.The controversy even led to the lead stars, and the director receiving death threats and that's why the Censor Board banned the film in India.

2. Parzania (2005)

Parzania portrayed the story of the Gujarat riots of 2002. The plot revolves around a young boy Azhar, who gets lost from his family during the riots. The family then tries to find their missing son.Because it is based on such a sensitive topic, the movie did not fit well with the Censor Board, which banned the movie in the state of Gujarat. However, the film won a National Film Award because of its cinematic excellence.

3. Bandit Queen (1994)

Bandit Queen, based on the life of Phoolan Devi, was banned in India because Devi disputed its accuracy and questioned its authenticity. Phoolan Devi even threatened to immolate herself if the theatres did not withdraw the film.The movie was also straight-up offensive, indecent, and vulgar for the Indian Censor Board. Phoolan Devi also claimed her sexual privacy was invaded as the movie had scenes of nudity in it. The movie was banned for all these reasons but was released eventually to critical acclaim.

4. Paanch (2001)

Paanch, Anurag Kashyap Born on 10th September 1972, Anurag Kashyap has es >> Read More... ’s directorial debut, faced a lot of heat from the Indian Censor Board. The movie got banned for glorifying drug use, high-octane violence, sex, and strong language.The movie was later certified with many cuts but went unreleased, and fans had to manage with the pirated version of the film It remains officially unreleased till today.

5. Water (2005)

Water, another Deepa Mehta-directed film with a screenplay written by Anurag Kashyap, faced opposition from the Indian Censor Board. Set in 1938, it explores the story of a widow, sent to an Ashram in Varanasi. Controversial issues like child marriage, misogyny, and ostracism were highlighted in the movie. It faced opposition during its shooting from hardline Hindu organizations in Varanasi, with sets of the movie destroyed, and the shooting halted. The shooting later shifted to Sri Lanka. It was released much later in India in 2007.

6. Black Friday (2004)

Black Friday, the Anurag Kashyap-directed movie, was based on the 1993 Bombay bomb blasts and was loosely adapted from the book by Hussain Zaidi. The film was blocked until the lawsuit’s verdict at Bombay High Court on the petition of the undertrials.The producers appealed to the Supreme Court to release the movie at the originally slated date, but the High Court’s order was upheld, and the film was finally released in India in 2007 after the trial.

7. Inshallah, Football (2010)

This documentary follows the life of a young Kashmiri boy who dreams of playing football and traveling across the world someday. But he is denied this opportunity because his father is charged with militancy.The movie tried to bring out the problems faced by civilians in Kashmir but the Censor Board denied the necessary certificate. As it wasn’t allowed to release theatrically, the director decided to make the film available online, and it even won a National Film Award for Best film on social issues.

8. Unfreedom Click to look into! >> Read More... (2015)

Unfreedom follows a same-sex relationship between a Muslim girl and a Hindu girl, entangled with a terrorism-related angle. The film brought out two taboos simultaneously and thus was denied a rating by the Censor Board.The Board told the director that the film would cause clashes between Hindus and Muslims and will provoke ‘unnatural passions’. It was not released in the country theatrically but was allowed to stream on Netflix.

9. Firaaq Click to look into! >> Read More... (2009)

Firaaq was another movie that dealt with the 2002 Gujarat violence, and so it faced the wrath of the Indian Censor Board. Firaaq was set one month after the 2002 violence and looked at the aftermath in its effects on the lives of everyday people. Director Nandita Das was widely criticized for apparently hurting the sentiments of Hindus and Muslims and the movie ultimately got banned. However, the film was finally released in India and garnered rave reviews from critics and audiences alike.

10. Kissa Kursi Ka (1977)

This movie was a political satire that got banned by the Congress government for lampooning the emergency that was implemented under Indira Gandhi's regime. The release was halted as it was slated to get released at the time of the emergency.The master prints and all the copies of the movie were lifted from the Censor Board office and burned by Sanjay Gandhi Sanjay Gandhi, an Indian television and theater ac >> Read More... supporters. It was later remade with a different cast.