‘The Wolf of Wall Street’ will arrive in India minus 6 saucy minutes

The word “nudity” pops up in nearly every news story and review of The Wolf of Wall Street, but much of it will be excised when Martin Scorsese’s new movie arrives in India. Based on the rise and fall of an actual rogue Wall Street broker, The Wolf of Wall Street will open on 3 January, over a week after its 25 December release. Starring Leonardo DiCaprio as Jordan Belfort, and, going by reports and reviews, featuring generous lashings of drug-fuelled sexual merriment, the black comedy will open on at least 125 screens in close to 10 cities, says Sunil Udhani, distribution head at Multivision Multimedia Pvt. Lt, which is handling the India release.

Although Udhani didn’t confirm the cuts that were ordered by the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC), a source from one of the multiplex chains showing the movie said Indian audiences will be denied visuals of frontal female nudity, intercourse and masturbation as well as the dialogue, “All nuns are lesbian”. These cuts, amounting to a little over 6 minutes, bring down the movie’s running time from 180 minutes to 174 minutes. The Indian release will include an anti-smoking disclaimer, which is now mandatory for any film that features the consumption of cigarettes and narcotics.