Rocky Aur Rani Kii Prem Kahaani: Alia Bhatt reacts as CBFC asks to remove abusive words, references to Mamata Banerjee and Khela Hobe: “The final cut is seamlessly flowing regardless of these minor cuts”

Bollywood actors Ranveer Singh and Alia Bhatt have been busy promoting their upcoming movie Rocky Aur Rani Kii Prem Kahaani. Billed as a new era of love, the film is helmed by Karan Johar. The fourth song ‘Dhindhora Baje Re’ was launched in Kolkata as the song features sindoor khela during Durga Puja. The two were accompanied by Tota Roy Chowdhury and Churni Ganguly. However, CBFC had asked for several cuts in the movie. From scenes containing abusive words to references to West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, including the dialogue ‘Khela Hobe’ (Game on) which was the slogan for TMC during the 2021 Assembly elections, were asked to be removed. While interacting with the media, Alia addressed the CBFC cuts.

When asked about the cuts in the movie, Alia Bhatt said that they followed the protocol but also said that even after those cuts, the final film flows seamlessly. She said, “There have been some minor cuts that have been asked by the board and we respect that completely and that has been coordinated but whatever cut (of ‘Khela hobe’) you’re talking about is not the case. I think we should let everybody watch the film and not talk about what’s been cut. The final cut (of the film) is seamlessly flowing regardless of these minor cuts.”

For unversed, Bollywood Hungama had reported that the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) passed the romantic family drama after enforcing certain cuts. The report read, “To begin with, the abusive word ‘b******d’, used multiple times in the film, was replaced by ‘behan di’. The popular rum brand Old Monk was mentioned in the film and it was changed to ‘Bold Monk’. ‘Lok Sabha’ was also mentioned in a dialogue and the CBFC asked the makers to remove it and not even replace it with any other term.”

Adding to that, it read, “A certain word was replaced with ‘Koi filter’ in the Rabindranath Tagore scene. In the absence of exact detail, its not clear whether or not the mention of the legendary figure has been retained. Then, an entire dialogue about West Bengal Chief Minister, Mamta Banerjee, was asked to be deleted. Lastly, a certain dialogue in the lingerie shop scene, which was termed as ‘degrading women’ and ‘vulgar’, was removed. In the same scene, ‘bra’ was replaced with ‘item’. After these changes were made, the CBFC handed over the certificate to the makers on Wednesday, July 19. The length of Rocky Aur Rani Kii Prem Kahaani, as mentioned on the censor certificate, is 168 minutes. In other words, the film is 2 hours and 48 minutes long.”

Viacom18 Studios and Dharma Productions present A Dharma Productions film, Rocky Aur Rani Kii Prem Kahaani, produced by Hiroo Yash Johar, Karan Johar, and Apoorva Mehta is all set to hit the big screen on 28th July, 2023.