Haraamkhor producer Guneet Monga is ready for a long battle, as the Examining Committee of the CBFC has declined to pass the film. The film, directed by Shlok Sharma shows a relationship between a teacher played by Nawazuddin Siddiqui and his student, Shwetha Tripathy.
The CBFC objected to the film after it found the theme of the film objectionable. According to the board, the film portrays our education system in a bad light. Guneet disagrees with the Board’s sentiment. She says, “It’s not a film about the education system. It’s a film about an individual who is a teacher in a village school; and he is not the ideal teacher. The film places no emphasis on any place or time. I am baffled at how it can be seen to reflect our education system.”
Guneet has now taken the film to the Film Certification Appellate Tribunal. The film opened to rave reviews at the Mumbai Academy of Moving Image (Mami) Film Festival. And now the producer is adamant about getting a release date for the film. She rues, “They said that the theme is objectionable. In our society, they say teachers can’t be shown is a different light. We won the best film (Silver) at Mami last year. While awarding the film at Mami they said, that Haraamkhor is the first feature that demonstrates sophisticated handling of tone and character perspectives, skilfully combining drama and light humour to tackle important social themes and is illuminated by wonderful performances by it ensemble cast. We’re very proud of Haraamkhor and will fight to get it released.”
