And you thought Udta Punjab was an exception?

- By Manigandan K R

Just like the makers of Udta Punjab,  the

makers of a Tamil film called 'Metro' too have been put to great hardship by a certain decision of the Censor Board here.

Ananda Krishnan, director of the Tamil film Metro, says, " There are certain sequences on chain snatching in my film, which is a crime thriller. The Censor Board took exception to these sequences being shown and told me that they would not be able to clear my film for release. Their contention was that showing the modus operandi of a criminal gang could influence young minds in a wrong fashion.

"Our intention is to create an awareness in society on these criminals who are a menace. We want the people to be aware of all their tricks and their line of thought. Just showing only chain snatching instances without these factors would have  served no purpose."

The decision of the Censor Board stunned the filmmakers who then decided to seek relief by presenting their case to a Revising Committee.

However, what they did not realise was that it would take time for a revising committee to view the film.

"It took close to 50 days for the revising to watch our film and give us relief. We eventually got relief but then, only I know what I went through during those 50 days," he says.

The director says that veteran director and musician Gangai Amaran was part of the revising committee and that he, along with other members of the revising committee, saw reason.

"While the earlier panel refused to even clear the film, the Revising Committee cleared the film for release without a single cut. They have cleared the film with an A certificate," the director says gratefully.