Cut Teri Ki!

Saif Ali Khan's production Happy Ending sailed past the Central Board Of Film Certification (CBFC) with a 'U/A' certificate.

But with some bizarre deletions.

Saif who plays a writer with roving eyes won't be able to say the word 'naked', which has been ordered muted by the Board.

'Naked' may not be a dirty word. But the explicit expletives 'a**hole' and 'f**kers' are definitely a no-go in a film open to kids accompanied by adults.

Says the source, "The word 'hole' has been muted and in the word 'fu.kers' the 'u' sound has to be very clearly replaced by the 'o' sound. Which is to say that we should clearly hear the character on screen say 'fockers'."

Raj Nidimoru, the co-director of Happy Endings, says he is baffled rather than amused. "I don't understand the system where the word 'naked' is considered wrong. How else do we describe the condition of being naked? Maybe we should also have a glossary of the banned words explaining why we can't use them."

Equally baffling is the cuts ordered in a sequence where Saif and his co-star Ileana D'Cruz play strip poker.

Says Raj Nidimoru, "I didn't understand why that sequence needed cuts. Ileana is wearing layers and layers of clothes. It's not as if she gets... that awful taboo word... naked."

Note: Incidentally, Zeenat Aman had played strip poker 37 years ago in a film called Aashiq Hoon Baharon Ka and stripped down to her lingerie.