'The 90-Second Film the Censor Board Wishes Did Not Exist'

Watch this powerful video to the end and you will very likely be brought up short by what it reveals about Indian cinema.

The video collates footage from films across decades and genres and edits them into what is described on YouTube as 'the 90 second film that the Censor Board wishes did not exist.' There is a common thread that links each of the scenes in the video - in every one them, there is a woman being slapped, hit, thrown against a wall, slammed to the ground or beaten up in some way. In the background, the song Kabhi kabhi mere dil mein plays.

This short film, made as part of a campaign titled Frame Her Right, identifies an important and essential 'frame' that is missing from the films that these scenes are taken from - a warning that the film contains content depicting violence against women, a crime that carries severe penalties off-screen. 

The campaign wants the Censor Board to make it mandatory for films such as these to carry a warning placard and has launched a petition for a 'Violence Against Women' rating for films made in India. By instituting this rating for films, Frame Her Right believes the Censor Board "will have taken a giant and positive step in the interests of cinema audiences across the country."

Frame Her Right is a campaign that aims to confront and change the way women are portrayed in Indian films. "There are many reasons violence against women continues in our society, and many ways in which each of us can start to bring this violence to an end. We'd like to start with what we love most: our cinema," it says on their official website.

The video was uploaded on YouTube on Women's Day which was on March 7. You can sign the petition here.