I am glad the censors have a sense of humour: E Niwas

The Yami Gautam-Ali Zafar Indo-Pak story Total Siyapaa scheduled for release today can breathe a sigh of relief. The Indian Censor Board has passed the film with a UA certificate and asked for only one line of dialogue referring to Pakistan to be changed and a love-making sequence to be removed. The dialogue that the Censor Board Of Film Certification (CBFC) wanted changed went, ‘Hum Pakistan Ko Lete Rehte hain’. Says director E Niwas, “They wanted us to beep out the word ‘lete’. Instead I chose to change the entire line. The character now says, ‘Hum Pakistan se ladte rehte hain.’ Other cuts included visuals and sounds of love-making on the soundtrack. Says Niwas, “They asked us to remove a suggested sex scene in a work-place and some sounds of pleasure during love-making. ‘Why do you want to spoil the fun mood with suggestive stuff?’ I had no objection to making the modifications.” Niwas says he’s relieved by the censor’s easygoing attitude. “We expected a lot more objection. But the Censor Board saw that we were not doing a serious take on Indo-Pak relations . It’s a very light take on the relations between the two countries. The message is there. But this is not a Henna, Veer Zara kind of intense romance across the border. It is not a film with a political agenda behind the love story. We adapted a Spanish film Seres Queridos into an Indo-Pak format for the comic conflict. I am glad the censors have a sense of humour.”