Amid Vijay's Jana Nayagan row, Ram Gopal Varma says censorship in films doesn't make sense: 'Dangerous hypocrisy'

Vijay's last film, Jana Nayagan, continues to face uncertainty over its release due to a lack of clearance from the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC). Amid the controversy, social media is filled with debate around the topic. Now, filmmaker Ram Gopal Varma has questioned the role of censorship in films.

Ram Gopal Varma calls censor board outdated

Calling the concept of censorship outdated for the current times, RGV said that censorship can be maintained due to laziness. He shared how people are exposed to every kind of content in the digital era. He said that censoring a scene, image or word in films to protect society is a “joke.”

Varma took to his X, formerly Twitter account and wrote in support of Vijay, “CENSOR BOARD is OUTDATED Not in the context of just @Actor_Vijay‘s #JanaNayagan ‘s censor issues but in an overall manner, it is truly foolish to think that the censor board is still relevant today.”

“It has long outlived it’s purpose, but it’s being kept alive out of laziness to debate it’s relevance now, and it is the film industry as a whole which is mainly responsible for this,” he added that the only film industry is responsible for continuing the concept of the censor board.

"We live in a time where a 12-year old with a phone can watch a terrorist execution filmed on a GoPro, a 9-year-old can stumble upon hardcore porn, and a bored retiree can binge extremist propaganda, indulge in conspiracy theories, from anywhere in the world, uncut, uncensored, algorithmically pushed. All of it is available instantly, anonymously, and without a gatekeeper. At the same time, everybody in every wake of society speak in abusive language from new channels to YouTubers and from other apps. If you quote that age old belief that cinema is a powerful medium, don’t ignore the fact that the social media has far more reach than cinema and it is full of political venom, communal poison, character assassinations, live, uncensored shouting matches in the name of debates.

“And in this reality, for the honourable censor board to believe that cutting a word in a film, trimming a shot, or blurring a cigarette will “protect society, ' is a Joke,” he explained.

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“Censorship insults viewers”

Ram Gopal Varma claimed that the board was made during the time when the state controlled the media. According to him, no one can decide what people should watch today.

“But today, any form of a control is impossible because no one can no longer decide what people should or should not see. In such times as now, censorship doesn’t prevent exposure… it only insults the viewers.”

“What the censor board actually does now is not protection, but only theatrics. It’s a ritual of authority in Oscar worthy performances where scissors replace thinking, and moral pretence moves around in a disguise called responsibility. The same society that freely scrolls through graphic violence on social media suddenly becomes “concerned” when a filmmaker shows something in a theatre. This hypocrisy is dangerous,” he also said.

Varma asserted that while films were “not meant to be a classroom where lessons are taught.” “They are mirrors, view points, expressions and opinions meant to entertain,” he added.

Jana Nayagan controversy explained

Jana Nayagan is currently in a legal battle with the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) at the Madras High Court over the certification.

Justice PT Asha directed the censor board to clear Jana Nayagan on January 9. After the board challenged it, within hours, a division bench comprising Chief Justice MM Shrivastava and G Arul Murugan ordered an interim stay against the previous verdict. The matter was scheduled for January 21.

When will Jana Nayagan release?

The film was initially planned to be released on January 9, which was later pushed to January 14.

Makers are yet to announce a new release.