Sharmila censors Soha Ali’s 'gaalis'?

Bollywood mothers have always had an important role to play. The mummys and ammas of Bollywood actresses have traditionally protectively hovered around their ‘naïve’ daughters to save them from prying eyes – and perhaps the snare of a potbellied producer. But the modern day amma seems to be far cleverer. Take Sharmila Tagore and Soha’s case for instance.  

Going by what the directors of 99 have to say, they had invited Sharmila (current chairperson of the Censor Board of Film Certification) for a shoot sequence of the movie where Soha was expected to mouth some cuss words. The directors of the movie, Krishna DK and Raj Nidimoru, did some smart thinking to save themselves from censor board hassles later. They admitted to DNA that they invited Sharmila on the sets to know if the cuss words used will be passed by the censor board!

Krishna DK says, “It was a night shoot with Soha and Kunal Khemu in the lobby of a hotel in Mumbai. We were shooting a key romantic scene where they are parting and Soha uses a few cuss words.

Soha had to use words like ‘tere behen di…’ and ‘tum jhand ho’. And I didn’t know if this would pass the censors because we definitely didn’t want an ‘A’ certificate for this movie. Since Sharmila was there, we thought of asking her if it would be censored.” Hold on – we wonder what he meant by ‘since Sharmila was there’, because they were the ones who invited her in the first place!

When asked about how Sharmila reacted to this, Raj Nidimoru says, “She said, ‘There are worse and more offensive words used in films that are released these days. Words that you’ve used in the movie are said in a light-hearted manner. I’m not sure if it’ll get censored or not. I can’t guarantee it, but I think it should be okay. I don’t think you should be worried about it.’”

Director Krishna says, “Soha was conscious because her mom was watching her performance and in between shots, we asked Sharmila if the cuss words used in the movie would be passed, to which she said that it depends on who is watching the movie from the censor board. Raj and I were thrilled to have her sit with us and view the actors’ performances on the monitor.”

However, when contacted Sharmila rubbished the directors’ claims. “Yes, I did go there when Soha was shooting, but I just went there and slept,” she says. When we asked about the directors asking her if some of the words used in the movie would be passed by the censor board, she said, “I don’t remember anything like that. I shook hands with the directors, had a cup of tea and went to sleep in the hotel. Even if it’s my daughter’s directors, I don’t discuss my work with them.” Now, we wonder who’s censoring whom over here!