After seeking 19 cuts in the Marathi play Jai Bhim Jai Bharat and denying a clearance certificate to it, the Maharashtra government’s censor board for theatre relented on Monday after watching the play on Sunday night. On Monday, board chairman Arun Nalawade told The Hindu that considering the play was largely experimental, the committee decided to grant the censor certificate to it. For the first time in the history of the board, the members along with Mr. Nalawade watched the first show of the play without any cut to decide on granting the certificate.
“We watched it only to judge people’s reaction and whether they will find it objectionable. Following the show, we held a meeting and decided to grant the certificate. I put my weight behind the playwright to ensure it gets cleared,” he said.
The board had suggested 19 cuts in the play’s script. It had asked the playwright Jandardan Jadhav to change Khairlanji to Vairanjli, Kutra (dog) to shwan, Mahar (a caste) to Dalit, Ramabai Nagar to Mirabai Nagar, Hindutva vadi to those with power etc. It had even taken objection to the reference made to Dalit Panther founder Namdeo Dhasal’s famous poem Gandu Bagicha and asked the playwright to remove the reference altogether.
In 1997, 11 Dalits were shot by the police in Mumbai’s Ramabai Ambedkar Nagar at Ghatkopar. In 2006, four members of a Dalit family were killed by upper caste villagers in Vidarbha’s Khairlanji village. Both incidents had led to an uproar in the State as well as in the country. The board had said that mentioning these names would hurt the sentiments of people. The play revolves around a fictional conversation between Mahatma Gandhi and Babasaheb Ambedkar. The board had said that the latter could not have used these words (as the events they referred to took place much later) and asked to remove them. “We are happy that the play has been cleared. However, we are yet to receive a copy of the board’s letter. We hope that the censor certificate will be given without any cut,” said Subodh More, who is organising the play.
