The Indian theatrical release of the Oscar-nominated film ‘The Voice of Hind Rajab’ has reportedly been blocked by the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC). According to the latest reports, the board halted the film’s planned release citing ‘political relationships’ behind the decision.According to a report on Variety, the film’s distributor, Manoj Nandwana, revealed that the Oscar-nominated film was submitted for certification in February with the hope of releasing it in time for the Oscar season. The film’s release was planned for March 6, giving the Indian audience over a week to watch the film before it could face off at the Oscars in the Best Foreign Film category. However, it was not cleared by the CBFC for a theatrical release.Nandwana claimed that the film which tells the story of a real five-year-old Palestinian girl trapped in a car during an attack in Gaza, is being censored as it is “very sensitive”. He further claimed that a CBFC member told him that “if it gets released, it would break up the India-Israel relationship.”“I told them: the India-Israel relationship is so strong that it’s idiotic to think this movie will break it,” Nandwana added, noting that the film has already been released in the U.S., U.K., Italy, France and many other countries. “But they want to censor it anyway,” he said. The reported move has drawn criticism online, with politician Shashi Tharoor slamming the CBFC. Replying to a post on the same, he tweeted, “That’s pretty disgraceful. In a democracy, screening a film is a reflection of our society’s freedom of expression and has nothing to do with government to government relations. This practice of banning films or books because of the offence they might cause to foreign countries must stop immediately. It’s unworthy of a mature democracy.”This is not the first time that the CBFC has halted an Oscar-nominated film’s release in the country. Last year, the board also blocked the release of ‘Santosh’, a Hindi film which had been shortlisted for the Oscars as the UK’s official entry in the Best International Feature Film category.
