If you’ve watched Aditya Dhar’s Dhurandhar: The Revenge, chances are you found yourself wondering why some abusive words are only partially muted while others are left untouched, and why an adults-only film was censored for its language? Actor-director Deepak Tijori raised the same questions, taking to social media to call out what he sees as an inconsistent approach by the Central Board of Film Certification. He also spoke about what he calls a puzzling mismatch between theatrical cuts and OTT releases.
Taking to Instagram, Tijori shared his confusion over selective censorship. “I must admit… maybe I’m missing something. Maybe I just don’t have the kind of intellect that the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) or its board members possess. Because I genuinely don’t understand this — why mute half the abuses and let the other half stay? At places, keep some and fully mute some?”
Tijori also raised a question about the relevance of such censorship in an adults-only film.
“Especially when the film is already certified 18+, which clearly means it’s meant for adults. So who exactly are we protecting here? And from what… half a word?”
Tijori points out contradiction between theatrical and OTT releases
He further spoke about a glaring contradiction between theatrical and OTT releases.
“And then comes the part that really confuses me — the same film, within a month or two, releases on OTT… completely unmuted… untouched… exactly as it was meant to be. And that’s where kids end up watching it… at home… sitting with family… with everything fully audible.”
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“So I’m just trying to understand, honestly, how smart is it to ‘half-mute’ something in theatres for adults, when the same thing plays out in full volume at home soon after? Maybe there’s a logic here I’m unable to see… or maybe, just maybe… we’re overthinking the wrong things.”
Fans react
Fans also echoed similar sentiments. A user commebted, “CBFC and logic can’t come in a same sentence.”
Another user wrote, “Well said sir… It is really unfair to mute some words when everyone understands the meaning anyway.” “CBFC Means Confused Board Film Certifications,” read another comment.
A fan questioned, “If it’s already 18+, why censor it at all?”
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‘Aditya Dhar knew which abuses won’t be beeped’
Interestingly, actor Suvinder Vicky recently revealed in a conversation with Mirchi Plus that Dhar had carefully crafted the film’s dialogue to avoid censorship beeps altogether. Suvinder Vicky plays Arjun Rampal’s father in the film.
“The villain’s father has to be a supervillain. I asked Aditya, ‘Dekh le, sachi mein zaroori hai? Itna yeh bhi voh bhi’ (Is it really necessary? This and that too).”
Recalling Dhar’s response, he added, “Aditya said, ‘Paaji, gaaliyan hi voh rakhi hain jismein beep naa aaye. Aap note karna yeh cheez, kahin kisi gaali par beep nahi hai’ (I’ve only kept those swear words that won’t need a beep. Notice this carefully — there isn’t a single abusive word in the film that has been beeped out).”
“I told him, ‘Your research is amazing,’ and he responded, ‘Sir, itna career ho gaya hai, censor se nikalte hain sab toh pata lag jaata hai kahan aana chahiye, kahan nahi’ (Sir, after such a long career, once your films keep passing through the censor board, you automatically understand what should be there and what shouldn’t).”
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CBFC cuts for Dhurandhar 2
CBFC records show the film underwent 21 modifications, including toning down scenes of extreme violence such as eye-smashing, beheading, and blunt-force attacks. The film holds an ‘A’ certificate with a runtime of 3 hours, 49 minutes and 36 seconds in India.
Dhurandhar 2 box office collection
In just eight days since hitting theatres, Ranveer Singh starrer has delivered a phenomenal box office performance, earning Rs 805.32 crore gross in India, with a domestic net of Rs 674.17 crore. Strong overseas numbers have propelled its worldwide total to Rs 1,067.24 crore, making it one of the biggest blockbusters in recent years.
