Kashmera Shah’s bold scene in Mahesh V Manjrekar’s Marathi film Nay Varan Bhat Loncha Kon Nay Koncha removed after objection from National Commission For Women

Till last week, the exhibitors in Maharashtra were wondering how they’ll get footfalls now that the big hit Pushpa has begun to slow down. To their pleasant surprise, a Marathi film, Nay Varan Bhat Loncha Kon Nay Koncha released yesterday, on January 14, and managed to open very well. Directed by Mahesh V Manjrekar, this film’s existence was not even known to many till as early as 10 days ago. But after the trailer of the film was released earlier this week, the intimate scenes and abusive content caught the attention of the viewers. On Wednesday, the National Commission For Women (NCW) raised a protest after receiving a complaint from the Bharatiya Stree Shakti. The organization raised a hue and cry over the scenes depicting women and a minor boy in compromising positions.

It has now come to light that after facing the heat from the NCW, a couple of scenes from Nay Varan Bhat Loncha Kon Nay Koncha were removed just before the release of the film. A source told Bollywood Hungama, “On Thursday, the makers removed a few visuals from the film. The trailer depicts Kashmera Shah pulling the child actor, Prem Dharmadhikari, towards herself. This and the scene where Prem Dharmadhikari castrates a character were deleted from the final cut from the film. One or two more shots also got snipped.” Interestingly, the theatrical trailer was also pulled down after NCB’s objection.

The source continued, “After removing the scenes, the makers of the film quickly began to dispatch the prints. In a few small centres in Maharashtra, the revised prints couldn’t be delivered on time. Hence, a few morning and afternoon shows were cancelled on the first day. A lot of tickets were sold but the exhibitors had no option but to shell out a refund.”

Meanwhile, the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) passed the film last week with an ‘A’ certificate. The source revealed, “Around 9 cuts and modifications were carried out on the instructions of the CBFC. One 12-second-long scene, depicting frontal and side nudity, was deleted while the duration of a few intimate scenes were reduced. 50% of abusive words like b*******d, m*******d, etc were replaced with milder cuss words.”

An exhibitor, meanwhile, stated, “Despite these cuts, the film still has a lot of explicit, adult content. Whatever was shown in the trailer has been retained, except the manja scene; Kashmera Shah’s shot, etc. The film is a godsend as shows are running full or nearly sold out. The NCW controversy has only helped in enhancing the curiosity about the film. We hope many more Marathi and Hollywood films release in subsequent weeks. It’ll help us to keep going until big or mid-sized Bollywood films start arriving, hopefully in March.”