Kerala office of CBFC rejects certification to documentary on Emergency

Kerala office of Central Board of Film Certification has reportedly denied certification to a docu-drama based on the torture methods used by cops during the Emergency in India.

21 Months of Hell is directed by Malayalam filmmaker Yadu Vijayakrishnan. Kerala censor allegedly rejected the permission on several grounds, including violence, disrespect towards Indira Gandhi, Mahatma Gandhi and the national flag.

Talking to ANI, the director said, "Censor Board has rejected my film wholly. They didn't suggest any modification, just rejected it. They said they'll forward the report to Mumbai headquarter for a revising committee."

The director accused board members of bias saying, "BJP is accused of interfering in our field but my film talks about RSS and Jansangh's work to restore democracy, following this logic we would've got the certificate but most members of Censor Board are leftists and of Congress."

BJP is accused of interfering in our field but my film talks about RSS & Jansangh's work to restore democracy, following this logic we would've got certificate but most members of Censor Board are leftists & of Congress: Director, 21 Month of Hell, documentary based on Emergency pic.twitter.com/IxwcBYgGjj

— ANI (@ANI) January 1, 2018

According to a report in The News Minute, Yadu Vijayakrishnan spoke to ten victims of the Emergency about the abuse they suffered at the time.

Because of unavailability of actual footage, the filmmaker used reenacted shots which put the short film in docu-fiction category. These additional scenes in the movie became an issue with the CBFC.

"I told them these are testimonies of real-life victims. And they said they want written proof, such as government reports from that time. This is ridiculous because the press was also gagged then and the government will never file a report about the crimes it committed," the filmmaker told the news site.