James Bond’s penchant for pashing has got India’s film censors all hot under the collar, so much so they’ve cut half of the kissing scenes out of Spectre according to local reports.
Star Daniel Craig’s amorous interactions with Bond girls Monica Bellucci and Lea Seydoux have been deemed “too excessive” by the country’s censor, leading to the cuts, reports the Times of India. Sources also told the DNA newspaper that two audio cuts prohibit James Bond from uttering the words “f—” and “asshole”.
With the cuts Spectre has been given the family friendly U/A certificate ahead of the film’s Friday opening. Sony Pictures India did not offer any official comment on the censorship and neither did the Central Board of Film Certification.
News of the censorship sparked a massive Twitter backlash against the board, resulting in the satirical hashtag #SanskariJamesBond (Righteous James Bond) trending on the social media site. The onslaught of tweets, some of which appear below, ridiculed the censors by offering a new take on a kinder, gentler and virtuous 007 more attuned to conservative Indian cultural values. “#SanskariJamesBond does not kill his enemy, he teaches them about karma,” said one tweet.
One image that went viral showed a gun-toting Craig photoshopped as a mustachioed Hindu priest, complete with traditional vermillion marks on his forehead.
This is not the first time the censors have been under attack. In February, the CBFC had proposed a list of 28 “objectionable and abusive” words that it wanted to ban, prompting widespread scorn from the film industry. The resulting backlash led the board to withdraw the list.
Thanks to the #CensorBoard, #SanskariJamesBond is the hottest trend on Twitter: https://t.co/y4Ih3plMHZ pic.twitter.com/FTSsFku3o4
— ScoopWhoop (@ScoopWhoop) November 18, 2015
He married the first girl he ever kissed. #SanskariJamesBond
— kaveri (@ikaveri) November 18, 2015
James Bond – Spectre should be release with the Statutory Warning ” Kissing is Injurious to our Culture “. #SanskariJamesBond
— Sunil – 5s into 6s (@1sInto2s) November 18, 2015
#SanskariJamesBond Dies Another Day and gets reincarnated the next day.
— Aladdin (@Alllahdin) November 18, 2015
