Farah Khan has had a difficult time getting her film, Tees Maar Khan, cleared by the Censor Board Of Film Certification who reportedly raised 18 objections, ranging from the name, Sheila, in the song, Sheila Ki Jawani to calling a “rural character” Doordarshan. Fortunately, thanks to a sensible chairperson, Sharmila Tagore, and a mature Revising Committee, the film was passed with no cuts.
Khan refutes rumours that Sheila was a problem because of the name of the Delhi Chief Minister, Sheila Dixit. “I didn’t find any logic in the argument because aren’t Monica, Sonia or Munni names of people too? So why was Monica o my darling, You are my Sonia and the more recent Munni bandnaam hui passed.”
tees maar khanBut Khan had to beep out the word tawaif (courtesan). Sheila’s naval was also a cause of concern, until Khan pointed out that half the women in the country wore a sari and their stomachs were seen too.
The national flag was another issue even though the director used only the saffron, green and white in her flag and not the chakra: “I didn’t want to offend anyone’s patriotic sensibilities, so I replaced the colours in my flag with red and white.”
She’s also edited out a reference to our national broadcaster. In the film, Akshay Kumar has a problem remembering the name of a character, Dhurinder, and calls him everything, from Dharmesh and D’Souza to Dadar and Doordarshan. The censors weren’t happy with a rural character being called Doordarshan, so Khan changed it to Duryodhan.
There was a difference of opinion over the use of the phrase Maa ki aankh (Hindi expletive) also. Khan had no idea that it was a derogatory term since it was being bandied around openly, even in the promos of Golmaal 3. In Tees Maar Khan, it’s a spontaneous reaction by Kumar.
Khan is upbeat about her Christmas attraction — a charity premiere, the proceeds of which will go to her charity, the Jai Vakil School for the mentally challenged: “Whoever wants to be there on December 23 can buy a ticket since it’s for a good cause.”
Meanwhile, her husband producer-scriptwriter Shirish Kunder has said that the sequel will go on the floors in January 2012. Says Khan, “That’s good since he’ll be the one writing the script again.”
