Page 288 - Religion, Media, and the Public Sphere

sorship (1969) suggests criteria that implies membership of the old middle
classes (quoted in Report of the Working Group on National Film Policy 1980. 75).
Although censorship rules are fairly loose, section 5(B) (1) of the Indian Cine-
matographic Act (1952) provides that “a ¤lm shall not be certi¤ed for public
exhibition if, in the opinion of the authority competent to grant certi¤cate, the
¤lm, or any part of it, is against the interest of the security of state, friendly
relations with foreign states, public order, decency or morality, or involves defa-
mation or contempt of court or is likely to incite the commission of any of-
fence” (ibid.). This means that any images, narratives, or other manifestations
of communalism are likely to be banned. The major concerns of the censor
board are with sex and violence, the latter being more important for this study
as the parties of Hindutva are seen as communal, that is, as aggressively hostile
to non-Hindus.
Since many Hindi ¤lms promote “Indian values” and nationalism, there
would have to be a distinct presentation to show these as signs and symbols of
Hindutva, perhaps by mobilizing other features such as language. Distinctive
symbols of Hindutva have appeared in televised mythologicals, such as its im-
ages of a muscularized Rama or the saffron ®ag, which fed into the political
images manipulated by LK Advani in his Rath Yatras (traveling campaigns).
Such direct symbols are rarely seen in Hindi ¤lms, although some are discussed
below in the context of Hey! Ram. Any ¤lmic representation of communities in
con®ict is a sensitive topic, and the ¤lms mentioned in detail below have all had
mixed receptions among minority communities, where they have caused of-
fence as well as pleasure.
The role of censor is also assumed by some of the forces of Hindutva. These
may be direct interventions by leaders, such as Bal Thackeray, who “permit-
ted” the screening of Bombay (although he suggested that it be renamed Mum-
bai, in accordance with Shiv Sena policy). Sometimes censorship has taken
more violent forms such as the Shiv Sena’s attacks on theaters screening Deepa
Mehta’s Fire (1996) on the grounds that it depicts lesbianism, which is not an
“Indian practice.” In 1999 theaters in Delhi screening Fire, which depicts sexual
intimacy between sisters-in-law, who have Hindu names, were vandalized by
female Shiv Sena activists. Protests led to the ¤lm being returned to the censor
board amid great protest although it was later shown again, uncut. 12

Religion in Hindi Cinema
Religion and nationalism have been central concerns of the Indian ¤lm
industry from the very ¤rst ¤lm in 1913. Three genres that were established
during the early days may be loosely labeled “religious” from their titles alone:
the mythological, the devotional, and the Muslim social (Dwyer 2005). Through
these genres, ¤lmic ways of viewing religious symbols and practices became
13
part of the visual culture of Indian cinema. Although they may have stirred
religious sentiment among viewers, they were not regarded as promoting reli-
gious nationalism or separatism but were part of a wider Indian culture. While

The Saffron Screen? 277