The Ajay Devgn-starrer Shaitaan has been in the news ever since the makers launched the chilling trailer of the film on February 22. The advance booking opened on Sunday to a favourable response and it’s expected to fetch a good opening. On March 4, the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) granted a U/A certificate to the makers. It has led to jubilation in the trade and exhibition sector as it would mean that not just adults but even family crowds can now throng theatres to see Shaitaan.
Shaitaan received 4 modifications from the Examining Committee (EC) of the CBFC. The EC asked the makers to add a voiceover for the disclaimer and another disclaimer stating 'the film does not support/endorse black magic'. They also told the makers to add a static message on liquor consumption. An abusive word was replaced with a scream. The film also got a visual cut - the makers were asked to reduce visuals of blood oozing from the mouth by 25%.
Shaitaan releases in cinemas on March 8. The length of the film, as mentioned on the censor certificate, is 132 minutes.
Shaitaan is an official remake of the 2023 Gujarati super-hit film, Vash. Interestingly, the original film was given an adults-only certificate. A Gujarati film industry member said, “Vash was not just passed with an ‘A’ certificate, but it was also given 8 cuts. Shaitaan, on the other hand, gets U/A and also fewer cuts. Nevertheless, Vash was a super-hit but with a U/A certificate, imagine the business it could have done.”
Vash suffered dialogue cuts and also the scenes of bloodshed were deleted at multiple places. In all, the CBFC asked the makers to do 8 cuts and modifications.
An industry insider, however, noted, “It is possible that Shaitaan is less gory than Vash and hence, it hasn’t faced so many cuts. Only once we see the film can we make a comparison. Until then, it’s too early to conclude that the CBFC was biased towards the Bollywood remake.”
Nevertheless, this comes at a time when the Gujarati industry and even Gujarati cinema moviegoers are slamming the CBFC over the treatment meted out to the recently released period film, Kasoombo. Its director Vijaygiri Bava posted a video alleging the CBFC gave unfair cuts to his film. He revealed that scenes of shlokas were asked to be removed while no cut was given to the religious scenes of Alaudin Khilji’s character. The video, in which the director also claimed that he got the certificate a day before and that he was on the verge of crying, went viral on social media.
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