In a first, members of Maharashtra’s censor board for theatre on Sunday joined the audience to watch the Marathi play Jai Bhim, Jai Bharat to judge whether the dialogues were objectionable. The exercise was done to decide on whether to give censor certificate or not and also to check if people found the content objectionable.
The board allowed the producers to stage the first show without any of the cuts they had suggested. The board will take a decision on Monday, whether or not to press for the 19 cuts or to provide the censor certificate, based on the crowd’s reaction. The first show of the play was staged in Kalyan late Sunday night.
The Hindu on Thursday had reported the controversy around the Marathi play, where the board had suggested 19 cuts to playwright Jandardan Jadhav. The changes included changing Khairlanji to Vairanjli, Kutra (dog) to shwan, Mahar (a caste) to Dalit, Ramabai Nagar to Mirabai Nagar and Hindutvavadi to those with power.
“We had given the script of the play to another committee,” Arun Nalawade, chairman of the board told The Hindu . We then decided to allow the producers to go ahead with their scheduled play on February 7. We decided to watch the play with the audience.” When asked whether the board has done such an exercise in the past for any other play, Mr Nalawade replied in the negative.
Subodh More, who is organising the shows, said the board will take the right decision after watching the play. “We hope the board members understand the necessity of these words,” he said.
