October 11, 2017
With 21 audio mutes and a U/A certificate, Sanal Kumar
Sasidharan's Malayalam movie "Sexy Durga" will hit the screens as "S Durga". The
director, who finds the censorship "crazy", says "you can't censor
imaginations".
"Now when I see the name, I feel really crazy because it
is a representation of typical mindset," Sasidharan told IANS, adding that "some
common abusive words" have been muted
"It is just insignificant words.
It was only to show that the characters are raw. The mutes are beeped so people
will understand the words are something bad. That's more effective," he said.
The film was in the news last month when it was refused censor exemption to
be screened at the upcoming Jio MAMI Mumbai Film Festival as the Information and
Broadcasting Ministry concluded it "may affect the law and order as it hurts the
religious sentiments".
But Sasidharan fought for the censors' nod,
reserving his right to screen it at the gala as well as release the movie in
theatres. He plans to release it in November or December.
"'Sexy Durga'
will be released in Indian cinemas as 'S Durga'. S is a letter open for your
imagination. Bhakts are specially requested to not imagine it as 'Sexy' as they
will be cursed by Durga. Be nice and come and watch the film," Sasidharan posted
on his Facebook page on Tuesday.
"Art has a different language. It's
alphabets are different from yours! It's vocabulary is different from yours! Its
Durga is different from yours! It is altogether sexy! You can't censor
imagination," added the Thiruvananthapuram-based independent filmmaker.
The movie, starring Rajshri Deshpande and Kannan Nayar, is described as a film
about how "obsessiveness and worship can quickly degenerate in a patriarchal
society into a mentality of oppression and abuse of power".
It became
the first Indian film in 23 years to win laurels since the Tiger Awards were
introduced at the International Film Festival Rotterdam (IFFR).
When it
was refused a censor exemption in India, Sasidharan was upset and angry to the
extent of calling India "a land that's becoming like Iran". He is still upset.
"We feel ashamed and agitated when we talk about sex or using the word sexy.
But we are perfectly okay to imagine it in our darkest corners of mind. That's
why we rape and we don't like love openly. We need darkness to talk about our
real self. This is typical Indian mindset," he told IANS over social media.