Prasoon Joshi bans a film

Shouts of freedom of expression notwithstanding, the Central Board Of Film Certification on Thursday banned a film. This is the first film to get the no-go certificate treatment from the CBFC after Prasoon Joshi took over as the chairperson.

The film to get the ban treatment is titled X Zone. Produced and directed by one Faisal Kapadi X Zone has, according to CBFC sources, graphic scenes of sex and nudity including, apparently, a frontal nudity shot of actress Hrishita Bhatt who once was a warrior alongside Shah Rukh Khan in Santosh Sivan’s Asoka.

Times change. Censor guidelines remain the same. The film has been unceremoniously banned by the CBFC, thereby effectively quashing the myth that all films, regardless of content, will be passed and that if you get an ‘A’ you can get away with anything. “Not so,” says a source close to the CBFC, “sleaze won’t get passed. That won’t change.”