Tiger Shroff's upcoming actioner Baaghi 4 has stirred attention not just for its high-octane stunts but also for its run-in with the censor board. The Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) has reportedly asked the makers to implement multiple edits despite the film already carrying an adults-only tag. According to Bollywood Hungama, the board enforced both visual and audio cuts before clearing the movie for release.
What's Happening
- Certified on August 26 ahead of its worldwide release on September 5, Baaghi 4 was subjected to as many as 23 cuts by the Examining Committee (EC). Bollywood Hungama reports that these included several violent visuals along with some dialogues.
- Among the deletions were the shot of the hero standing on a coffin, a cigarette being lit from a niranjan diya, and another where a cigarette was lit using an amputated hand. A frontal nude sequence was also covered up. The EC further removed a scene where a knife was hurled at a statue of Jesus Christ and another where a fist hit caused the statue to lean.
- On the violence front, the board cut out graphic shots such as throats being slit, hands being chopped, and goons being killed with swords. A particularly gory 11-second sequence and a sword piercing a skull were also deleted.
- The audio saw its share of modifications too. Words like bhang b*****a, b**e, and fingering were either muted or replaced with milder alternatives. The word condom was silenced in a dialogue, while other lines, including "Woh bhi darta hai mujhse," were removed altogether.
- After these changes, the film was cleared with an A certificate at a run time of 163.50 minutes (2 hours, 43 minutes, 50 seconds).
Background
Interestingly, the makers of Baaghi 4 revisited the CBFC just three days later, on August 29, to make voluntary cuts of their own. They trimmed around 19 scenes and shortened the movie by 6 minutes and 45 seconds, reducing the final length to 157.05 minutes (2 hours, 37 minutes, 5 seconds).
With this, Baaghi 4 joins the list of big-ticket projects like War 2 and The Bengal Files, which also opted for voluntary cuts even after certification.