Bengali film based on Dhananjoy Chatterjee's 2004 hanging passed by CBFC with 'A' certificate

Kolkata: The Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) has passed the Bengali film Dhananjoy with ‘A’ certification, the director and producers of the film have said. [caption id=“attachment_3915715” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  A still from Dhananjoy. Screen grab via YouTube.[/caption] A change in the disclaimer note was also suggested. The film was referred to the CBFC Chairman Pahlaj Nihalani from the regional office on 7 August after no consensus could be reached among CBFC regional office examining committee members regarding certification of the film. “We are very happy that the film has been passed by CBFC with an A certification,” director Arindam Sil told PTI on 10 August. “The disclaimer will have to be changed in the film now and we will put that into effect shortly,” Sil said. Sil, who had flown to Mumbai on 9 August to attend the screening at Nihalani’s office, said, “He (Pahlaj Nihalani) told us he never wants any film to get stuck because of CBFC issues. We are now releasing the film on 11 August as scheduled before,” he added. Srikant Mohta of SVF films said, “We are happy with the final outcome.” Sil had earlier said the film was a work of fiction inspired by the incident of Dhananjoy Chatterjee’s hanging, who was convicted for the rape and murder of Hetal Parekh. Speaking to ScoopWhoop News, he said, “This was the first hanging for rape-murder where not one direct evidence was present. Most of it was inconclusive, circumstantial evidence and it was strange how an execution was carried out on such flimsy evidence. Our film explores the alternate theory that he may have been innocent because of all the lacunae in the investigation. It’s also a classic example of trial by media and mass hysteria.” Chatterjee, throughout the 14-year-long trial, maintained that he was innocent. Sil made this film around the speculation that Chatterjee’s death sentence was the result of political pressure by former West Bengal Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharya. Bhattacharya had reportedly claimed that he would resign from his post if Chatterjee was not hanged, reports ScoopWhoop. While many big names had supported the death sentence, there were otherswho said capital punishment should be done away with. Dhananjoy stars Anirban Bhattacharya, Mimi Chakraborty, Anusha Vishwanathan, Kaushik Sen, Sudiptaa Chakraborty, Paran Bandopadhyay. It has been written by Sil along with Padmanabha Dasgupta. Here is the trailer:

(With inputs from PTI)