'Banned 'Beef' Because Of Title': Shashi Tharoor On Kerala Film Fest Row

Senior Congress leader and Thiruvananthapuram MP Shashi Tharoor has slammed the Centre's decision to block the screening of 19 films at the International Film Festival of Kerala, saying the list suggests an "extraordinary degree of cinematic illiteracy on the part of the bureaucracy".

Tharoor has said the original list of films not cleared for screening was much longer, and many were cleared after he met Information and Broadcasting Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw at the request of Resul Pookutty, Oscar-winning sound designer and chairman of the festival.

"To deny clearance to a classic like "Battleship Potemkin", a 1928 film on the Russian Revolution which has been viewed by literally hundreds of millions around the world (and in India) over the last century, is laughable. Denying permission to some Palestinian films reflects bureaucratic over-cautiousness rather than the cultural breadth of vision that should be involved when it comes to world cinema," Tharoor said in a post on X.

It is most unfortunate that an unseemly controversy has arisen over the central government's denial of clearance to 19 films which were scheduled to be screened at the International Film Festival of Kerala in Thiruvananthapuram.

The original list was much longer, but several…

— Shashi Tharoor (@ShashiTharoor) December 16, 2025

"I have urged both I&B Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw and EAM (External Affairs Minister) Dr S Jaishankar to grant expeditious clearance and avoid any further embarrassment in the eyes of the cinema lovers of Kerala, and of the world," Tharoor said.

The Congress leader also spoke to NDTV on the issue. "I really think this is an unfortunate development. Kerala has a very knowledgeable cinematic culture. Clearance has never been an issue before."

"No film should be denied (permission). Some of these films have actually been screened in India before. So it is petty of us to bring in these kinds of considerations. Some of the earlier films that were banned or prevented from getting clearance... it was laughable. There was a film that's 100 years old that is available on YouTube. How can you suddenly say, don't show it in the film festival?" he said.

"You have a film called Beef. It is not about cow slaughter. It is actually about a rap artist. They banned it because they saw the title. Our bureaucrats have to develop a more refined sensibility because it is India's image that is at stake," Tharoor said.

The Congress MP said the world will appreciate our culture "if we behave accordingly". "Our bureaucrats have to really grow up and appreciate that this country is much larger than the rulebook that they are following," he said.

Earlier, the Kerala government had asked the organisers of the film festival to screen all films selected for the event. Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan termed as "unacceptable" the Centre's denial of clearance to several films. "Enlightened Kerala will not give in to such censorship. All films that have been denied permission to be screened will be shown at the festival," he said in his post.