Sony puts off release of David Fincher film on censorship issues

Sony puts off release of David Fincher film on censorship issues

The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo

MUMBAI: Agitated with the Censor Board asking for several cuts in his film, The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo director David Fincher has ruled out the release of the film in India.

Fincher categorically told the producers Sony Pictures that if the film had to release, it should only be without cuts. Sony Pictures approached the director again but he denied permission forthright.

Said a spokesperson from the production house, "Sony Pictures will not be releasing The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo in India. The Censor Board has adjudged the film unsuitable for public viewing in its unaltered form and, while we are committed to maintaining and protecting the vision of the director, we will, as always, respect the guidelines set by the Board."

Lovemaking scenes between computer hacker Lisbeth Salander (Rooney Mara) and the journalist Mikael Blomkvist (Daniel Craig) have become the bone of contention. Besides, there are two lovemaking scenes between Lisbeth Salander (Rooney Mara) and Mikael Blomkvist (Daniel Craig), a lesbian scene featuring Lisbeth and a woman she meets at a bar and a scene where Lisbeth is raped and tortured. In the revenge scene, she tortures him and a video of her being assaulted plays in the background.

The Censor Board had asked to blur out the scenes that have frontal nudity, but the Sony spokesperson said that scenes were specifically asked to be cut and not blurred.

Here it may be added that The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo faced similar trouble in Malaysia and the Gulf countries while Japan rejected the first version but okayed the second version with pixilated scenes.