Manmarziyan scenes that hurt Sikh sentiments must be deleted, Jammu district magistrate orders

Authorities on 19 September ordered deletion of four scenes from Anurag Kashyap's Manmarziyan before its screening in Jammu. The order was passed by district magistrate, Jammu, Ramesh Kumar following a representation by a Sikh organisation, which said the film had hurt the religious sentiments of the community, officials said. The community has objected to certain scenes which show the characters smoking.

Vicky Kaushal and Taapsee Pannu in a still from Manmarziyan

The film, featuring Taapsee Pannu, Vicky Kaushal and Abhishek Bachchan, was released on 14 September and is being screened at different theatres in Jammu. "It is hereby ordered that the four scenes that hurt the sentiments of the Sikh community be deleted or blocked from the film before it is screened in the cinema halls," the officials said quoting an order issued by the district magistrate. Kumar directed the concerned Sub-divisional Magistrates, Tehsildars, Sub-divisional police officers and Station House Officers to ensure the compliance of the order.

The producers of Manmarziyan, however, have already removed the portions that attracted controversy. The makers approached the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) regarding the deletion of the scenes and according to a censor copy, the three deleted scenes include a 29-second smoking sequence of Abhishek, a minute long scene featuring Taapsee Pannu and Abhishek entering a gurudwara and an 11-second scene where Taapsee is shown smoking.

"We have removed the three scenes from the film as people's sentiments were getting hurt. The said changes have come into effect in metros from today and will reflect across India from the coming Thursday-Friday," a source from the production side told Press Trust of India. 

Director Anurag Kashyap also addressed the controversy, saying there was never an intention to cause any hurt to the community but the matter should not be politicised unnecessarily.