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NEW DELHI: The Indian Censor Board has succeeded where the British Intelligence
failed reining in the legendary sex life of UK's most famous fictional spy. The
Board has slashed kissing scenes between James Bond and his girls, considering the
length of the pecks "too excessive", in the latest spy flick, Spectre.
The film is scheduled for release in India on November 20 and has received a U/A
certificate. Reports said the film received four cuts which included kisses between
Daniel Craig and his co-stars, Monica Belluci and Lea Seydoux.
READ ALSO: Daniel Craig: James Bond has taken me to incredible places
CBFC chief Pahlaj Nihalani was unavailable for comment. But sources close to him
said the kissing content was reduced because the certification was U/A which
allowed for the film to be screened to a wider theatrical audience and on TV.
"We have to be careful with films that get U/A certificate because they can be
shown on TV and to all audiences following parental guidance. The producers have
accepted the cuts," the source said. Censor Board sources also said that the
producers had asked for the edits.
However, social media had a field day with #SanskariJamesBond and #Censor
Board trending on twitter. The move comes just days after Nihalani released a video
in praise of PM Modi.
Board member Ashoke Pandit tweeted his disapproval of the way in which the movie
was cleared and described it as a "mockery of the freedom of the filmmaker" and
slammed Nihalani for behaving as an official spokesperson for the BJP.
He tweeted, "Pahlaj Nihalani has always functioned on his own accord and I don't
subscribe to his curtailing of creative rights.... Spectre is an internationally
applauded film, but again Pahalaj Nihalani messes it up by shading it with his own
thought process. Nihalani's action should not be a reflection of my choices. I feel it's
a mockery of the freedom of a filmmaker...Nihalani as chairman of the censor Board
can't behave like an official spokesperson of a political party."
He added, "Just because I didn't succumb to Nihalani's likes and dislikes, I've never
been called to see a film in the revising committee."
The Twiteratti were merciless towards the Board. "Censor Board is clear. Make in
India? Good, good. Make out in India? Never," tweeted Ramesh Srivats while
director Shirish Kunder said, "James Bond's women must be feeling so safe now that
our Censor Board is there to protect their izzat and aabroo from that creep."

The film directed by Sam Mendes also stars Christopher Waltz and Naomi Harris.
The Board also asked for profanities to be removed.
NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Wednesday asked the Centre to frame draft of
memorandum of procedure (MoP), based on the suggestions given by people from
various walks of life, to be followed by the collegium for appointment of judges.
A five-judge constitution bench of Justices J S Khehar, J Chelameswar, Madan B
Lokur, Kurian Joseph and Adarsh K Goel asked Attorney General Mukul Rohatgi to
draft MoP on the basis of suggestions received by the Centre from around 3,500
people running into 15,000 pages. The court said it will approve or bring changes in
the draft after hearing all the parties in the case.
READ ALSO: Hold tests, interviews to select judges, Supreme Court urged
"We will hear and decide the issue as soon as the draft is placed before us. Your
consideration may be better than what we are thinking and we will discuss and
decide the issue," the bench told the Attorney General and granted him 15 days to
place the draft.
The Supreme Court's invitation for suggestions to improve the "opaque" collegium
system saw the general public and sitting as well as retired judges sending their
opinion to the government. Many of them advocated a written test followed by
interview for selecting judges.
A sizeable number of suggestions also advocated appointment of noted scholars
and jurists as judges of the SC and HCs. People also suggested that judicial officers
with more than 10 years' experience and advocates with 10 to 20 years' experience
at bar should be considered for appointment as judges of HC.
READ ALSO: Government for executive consultation in judges selection
Rohatgi told the bench that the selection process for judges should be made
broader and application and nomination should be invited from the general public.
He said that SC should fix eligibility criteria for selection of judges and all those
eligible should be allowed to apply for the post. "Transparency can be achieved in
the selection process by inviting applications and nominations from various sources
including Bars," he said.
The government also pointed out that over the years merit had taken a back seat in
the appointment process which must be done away with for bringing more efficient
and intelligent person in the judiciary.

The bench, however, ruled out the proposal for fixing qualification criteria for judges
saying it has already been prescribed in the Constitution and cannot be changed. It
said the issue of bringing reforms in the collegium system has to be decided at the
earliest in view of large number of vacancies in higher judiciary.
The Attorney General also submitted that the collegium must start functioning as
vacancies have gone up to 40 percent.
On November 5, the constitution bench had taken the unprecedented step of
inviting views of general public for improvement of the collegium system which has
been widely criticized for being non-transparent. The SC took up the task to improve
the collegium system after striking down the National Judicial Appointments
Commission, terming it unconstitutional.
The apex court had wrested from the executive the constitutional power to select
judges through two judgments in 1993 and 1998. In its 1998 judgment, the SC had
evolved the collegium system. This is the first occasion when the SC has involved
the general public in its affairs, especially in the critically important issue of
selection of judges.