Censor Board denies a U-certificate to Onir’s ‘I AM’

Censor Board denied giving a U-certificate to filmmaker Onir’s award-winning film ‘I AM’ owing to the fact that it deals with controversial issues like sperm donation, gay rights, Kashmiri Pandits and child sex abuse. Onir is upset with Board’s decision and says that inspite of making the demanded cuts, he did not get a U-certificate as a result of which he cannot air the show on Doordarshan. Onir also challenged this decision saying that a show like Aamir Khan’s Satyamev Jayate, which too deals with true stories on issues like child sex abuse and alcoholism gets a prime time slot but his film is deprived of this right.

Onir says, “Satyamev Jayate also deals with serious social issues, but it has got prime time slot. It is a good thing that serious shows like Satyamev Jayate are being shown at prime time but at the same time Doordarshan cannot show I AM. And I cannot even apply for it. I have already cut out seven minutes of the film and abuses. How can you deny that? I find it very strange because for other satellite rights, you require an U/A certificate, which I have. For Doordarshan, you need an U-certificate, which is ridiculous. I think we are so stuck up with our beliefs that we forget that rules are made for us and we are not made for the rules.”

Onir also expressed his anger on Twitter’s social forum. He wrote: “I am dismayed at the double standards of the censor board. While its ok to show ‘Satyame Jayate’ on DD prime time. ‘I AM’ is refused.” “Today, I feel a little defeated – thank you censor board!!!” he further wrote.

Released in 2011, Onir raised funds for I AM through crowd sourcing and as many as 400 people around the world funded the film. The movie stars Rahul Bose, Arjun Mathur, Sanjay Suri, Abhimanyu Singh, Radhika Apte, Sharnaz Patel, Anurag Kashyap, Juhi Chawla, Manisha Koirala, and Purab Kohli.