Daniel Craig's latest James Bond movie "Spectre" has got into trouble in India after the country's censor board asked filmmakers to slash two "long kissing" sequences.
"Censor board chief Pahlaj Nihalani has unofficially reviewed the film and felt that under the obscenity codes, long kissing sequences should not be permitted. He, therefore, wanted the lengths of the scenes shortened by half, which enabled the film to get a UA certificate," a source in CBFC told The Telegraph.
"Daniel Craig's kisses with his co-stars have been reduced by 50 percent. The Censor Board had nothing against James Bond kissing, but the length of the kisses were found to be excessive," another source said, according to The Hindu.
The film was cleared for an India release after four cuts, which included kisses between Craig and his co-stars, Monica Belluci and Lea Seydoux. It received a U/A certificate from the board.
"We have to be careful with films that get U/A certificate because they can be shown on TV and to all audiences following parental guidance. The producers have accepted the cuts," a CBFC source told The Times of India.
The filmmakers have also been asked to mute two "F" words from the movie.
Sam Mendes' "Spectre" also stars Ralph Fiennes, Andrew Scott, Ben Whishaw, Naomi Harris and Christoph Waltz. The film is set to hit the theatres in India Friday.
The hashtag #SanskariJamesBond immediately started trending on social media in the wake of the censor board's decision. Check out some hilarious tweets below.
#SanskariJamesBond Chikoo and milk. Shaken, not stirred.
— Ramesh Srivats (@rameshsrivats) November 18, 2015
Everyone please start timing your kisses and report back to @PahlajNihalani? #SanskariJamesBond — Mitali Saran (@mitalisaran) November 18, 2015
#SanskariJamesBond mentions his surname first to make his upper-caste known firsthand.
— Gabbbar (@GabbbarSingh) November 18, 2015
#SanskariJamesBond will ride a bullet proof Rath, will wear dhoti, will drink branded Mutra and will touch heroine's feet to turn her on. — Rofl Gandhi अंग्रेज (@RoflGandhi_) November 18, 2015
#SanskariJamesBond seduces women by lighting aggarbattis in his bedroom and then introduces them to his Mom.
— Ray Ban (@Purba_Ray) November 18, 2015
James Bond - Spectre should be release with the Statutory Warning " Kissing is Injurious to our Culture ". #SanskariJamesBond — Sunil - 5s into 6s (@1sInto2s) November 18, 2015
#SanskariJamesBond never drives above 40 kmph, makes Bond girls tie rakhi on his wrist, and drinks cow urine cocktail instead of martini
— The Bad Doctor (@doctoratlarge) November 18, 2015
Epic! #SanskariJamesBond naam toh suna hi hoga! Still laughing! pic.twitter.com/sTpTtbSYJB — Zenealous (@zenealous) November 19, 2015
#SanskariJamesBond never fires a bullet without touching babuji Aloknath's feet first! ;)
— Swapnal Tilekar (@swapnalt) November 19, 2015
