Internet fumes at censorship of kissing scene in James Gunn’s Superman: ‘They don't have a problem with Housefull 5’
James Gunn's Superman released in India on July 11. CBFC made several cuts in the film, including a 33-second kiss between the leads.
The news of the kissing scenes from James Gunn's Superman being censored have left fans, including actor Shreya Dhanwanthary, angry, who took to social media to vent their frustration and slam the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) for the censorship, wondering how they didn’t have any problem with the “double meaning jokes in Housefull 5”.
CBFC cuts kissing scene
James Gunn's Superman was released in India on July 11. The two-hour film is Gunn's reboot of the DC Universe, introducing David Corenswet as Superman. Recently, it was revealed that the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) has made several cuts in the film, including a 33-second kiss between the leads, David Corenswet and Rachel Brosnahan.
The version of Superman released in India doesn’t have two visuals of kisses between the two leads. One takes place early on in the film when the two characters share screen for the first time. Later, a shot, which was seen in the trailer, featuring Superman and Lois kissing while floating in the air has been cut almost entirely.
The news of the removal of scenes comes some days after CBFC was slammed for modifying a middle finger emoji in Brad Pitt-starrer F1 to a fist emoji.
Internet fumes
The news of the kissing scenes being censored left fans disappointed, who took to social media to vent their frustration and slam the CBFC for the censorship, expressing their discontent and displeasure at the cuts.
{{/usCountry}}The news of the kissing scenes being censored left fans disappointed, who took to social media to vent their frustration and slam the CBFC for the censorship, expressing their discontent and displeasure at the cuts.
{{/usCountry}}Actor Shreya Dhanwanthary took to X, formerly known as Twitter, to express her anger, writing, “If this is true, this is RIDICULOUS!!! Some ridiculous crap happens every day. Every. Damn. Day. Sure this is the least of our worries but is something done about anything else? There is some crap every day. Every. Damn. Day.”
{{/usCountry}}Actor Shreya Dhanwanthary took to X, formerly known as Twitter, to express her anger, writing, “If this is true, this is RIDICULOUS!!! Some ridiculous crap happens every day. Every. Damn. Day. Sure this is the least of our worries but is something done about anything else? There is some crap every day. Every. Damn. Day.”
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“Even Superman cannot defeat this Sanskari CBFC,” one wrote. Another mentioned, “It was just a kiss. It's not like they were ripping each other's clothes off. CBFC is an utter joke. I saw F1 last week and they censored the middle finger.”
“We're censoring kisses now? What next? Can't hug on screen. Can't touch,” one wondered. One social media user shared, “Don't know whether the CBFC members are a bunch of sexually frustrated, love-deprived individuals or they get some sadistic pleasure out of taking out of a few seconds of a normal PG-13 kiss scene. Trying to understand what exactly the logic is here. Case in point: SUPERMAN.”
“They don't have problem with Housefull 5 scenes but they problem with these,” read one comment, with another reading, “Now watching #Superman and boy howdy the Indian censor board has embarassed itself with the abrupt cuts they've made to the film. The "morality" of censorship aside, the way they've managed to mangle the flow is atrocious. Awful editing job all around by the CBFC.”
One wrote, “So, Superman is NOT allowed to kiss Lois Lane on Indian screens. But all sleazy leading men of Indian films are allowed to pull, grope, assault, stalk, slap, and do whatever they want with their heroines. Are you serious, Indian Censor board?”
“You can have lewd double meaning jokes in Housefull 5. Beheadings & gory violence in Jaat But….Superman kissing Lois Lane is where we draw the line,” wrote one.
Another questioned, “I mean, the censor board kept horny and blood thirsty scenes from #Animal, #Marco and so on and they removed this shit? Like, are they for real? #Superman scene is just plain and mid, TBH.”
About James Gunn's Superman
The film stars David Corenswet in the titular role, alongside Rachel Brosnahan, Nicholas Hoult, Edi Gathegi, Anthony Carrigan, Nathan Fillion, and Isabela Merced. The film, first in Gunn's new DC Universe, opened to positive response, and has been working well at the box office.
