Movie censor / Telugu movie rating / Telugu movies

It's not there in the hall of fame, look for it in the hall of shame and Tollywood is there occupying the centrestage.
The Telugu film industry, which boasts of producing the second most number of films in the country, has earned the dubious distinction of being on the top in trying to peddle obscenity, vulgarity and violence in films.

The scissors of the censors, however, have often cut the dreams of filmmakers short by insisting on deleting all objectionable scenes.

In terms of length, for the year 2008 a total of 8,073.68 metres of film had to be cut by filmmakers as the censors found it objectionable. Compare this figure to Bollywood's movies and the length advised to be cut was only 1,825.66 metres.
















Similarly, for the year 2009 also (the latest year for which detailed statistics are available), the Telugu film industry showed its ability to outclass other language films. A total of 4,761.20 metres of film had to be cut in the Telugu movies censored at the Hyderabad regional office as against 2,472.63 metres which suffered the censors cut in the Mumbai regional office.

" Nenu Na Rakshasi  film's censor was completedand got an 'A' certificate for its content. Puri Jagannath described the genre of the film as film noir and said that a film of this kind has never come on Telugu screens. Lets wait and see if the audience too feel the same."

" 'Chukkalanti Ammayi Chakkanaina Abbai'"The film is about the two who had committed to each other for the rest of their lives but sticks to a decision in order to avoid misunderstandings between the two.Anoop Rubens musical scores play vital role in the film. The audio has already received positive notes. The first copy of the film is ready with clean 'U' certificate."

"Junior NTR and Ileana starrer 'Shakti'' has been re-censored following reports of insult to national flag.However, censor officials informed that it is Italian national flag which resembles Indian flag which is on the shoe of NTR that made them re-censor the movie."

During 2008, as against 286 Telugu films released, 248 Hindi films were released. However, during 2009, while 235 Hindi films were released, 218 Telugu films hit the theatres.

Telugu filmmakers have shown an obsession for obscenity, even if they know it may not get past the censors. "The obscene stuff is shot anyway hoping that the film gets a clearance with all that," says a film analyst.

"After we watch the film, we have a sitting with the film producer and the director and advise them about the cuts to be made. They do give their point of view, but the CBFC follows strict guidelines in not passing what is objectionable," said CBFC regional officer A Dhanalakshmi.

Take for instance, the movie `Nenu Na Rakshasi' starring Rana Daggubati directed by Puri Jagannath which got released on April 29, 20011. Item bomb Mumaith Khan had to bear the brunt of the censors as they got the scenes in which her body exposure was considered vulgar in a cafe and on a flight. Some 25 feet of film had to be cut for this. The censors insisted that Mumaith Khan's exposure of her cleavage in a close-up shot in a song be deleted. This apart, vulgar words and abuses were got deleted by the censors.

In the movie `Lokame Koththaga' released on April 8, 2011, Jyothi's intimate love scenes with her boyfriend had to be sliced. To give more examples, in the film `Mantra' starring Charmee and directed by Tulasiram, the censors imposed as many as 10 cuts which meant 230ft of film had to be sliced and given an `A' certificate.

`Ala Na Pellanta' released in March this year starring Allari Naresh too suffered censor cuts for unnecessary exposure of the heroine in a bikini at a swimming pool.

It is only getting worse in Tollywood. In a recently released film, a filmmaker went to the extent of incorporating a dialogue which said `One plus one free' referring to a daughter and mother. Shocked censors naturally did not allow it to pass.


The Tamil film industry which encourages buxom beauties had also to suffer the brunt of the censors but this was to an extent of only 3,920.4 metres of length of film in the year 2009. The Kannada film industry was spared with 2,898.79 metres of cuts and Bengali films only 116.59 metres of cuts.