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'I say the censor board's thinking is perverted'

Shobha Warrier

Ashok Kumar. Click for bigger pic!

It was a furious and fuming Ashok Kumar that I met at his office. He had just received a strongly worded rejection slip from the censor board for his latest film Kama.

This is not his first film though with sexual content. His Andru Peytha Mazhayil had dealt with an adult theme realistically and sensitively but the audiences and the critics were not kind to his next production, Kamagni. He'd also shot an English film, Perfume Garden, on the lines of the Kama Sutra, in Khajuraho.

Why was so obsessed then with Kama?

"You cannot sell the film unless it has got some sensuality. So, I selected the subject -- a very sensuous, erotic story -- to sell the film. I selected newcomers [the hero, Vishal, is his own son]. Let me tell you, kama is desire, passion or, as many call it, sex.

A still from Kama. Click for bigger pic!

"The story is about how a girl grows up and how passion enters her life. First we show a horse chasing the running girl. People may say it is vulgar, but it isn't. The horse lifts its leg and touches the girl. That is the first attack of kama for her."

By choosing such a theme and title, wasn't he restricting yourself?

"I am not making films for everyone. See there is no vulgarity, no nudity in my film... For that matter, in any of my films. You know the kind of reviews I got for my film Kamagni which was 10 years ahead of its time? In that film, the wife, who is tortured by her husband, wants to escape from him. So she fantasises about someone who can protect her. I made that imaginary person a body builder and she felt happy, deriving pleasure whenever she thinks about him."

Click for bigger pic!

Then he thundered, " I had shot Kama at three levels -- realistic, dream and stream of consciousness. I've made a wonderful film but see what the censor board has written. They've said it is a perverted film, a pornographic film."

The most controversial part of the film is apparently a scene wherein the heroine has honey poured over her.

"I say that kama is as sweet as honey and it has the fragrance of honey. The censor board says I am perverted. I say their thinking is perverted. I am not. Let me ask, are they from any film school to question my creativity? Do they have any cinematic sense? Do they have any aesthetic sense?

"How did they become censor board members? My father is a great poet. Do you think I'd spoil his name by making pornographic films? If I am a pornographic filmmaker, why was I in the national jury? They are destroying me, torturing me, a creative film-maker.

Click for bigger pic!

"I have worked day and night for six months to make this film and they call it obscene. They say there are vulgar dialogues in the film. They cannot shun it like this. I am sitting here like a culprit. I don't deserve this kind of a treatment from anyone. Do you know I have shot 100 films so far, and 50 of them have received state and national awards? Do you think I will make a pornographic film and destroy my name and my father's name? They should be punished for calling my film pornographic."

Wasn't he expecting this kind of a reaction when he made a film with the title Kama?

"No, not at all. I thought they would love it. It's so sweet and beautiful. Okay, at the most they should have given an 'A' certificate. But they chose to write such a dirty letter. I am angry, very, very angry.

"I'm not hurt. Not at all. I feel only creative people; good film-makers should be there in the censor board, not bureaucrats. Why can't they have creative people like Adoor Gopalakrishnan, John Sankaramangalam, Mahesh Bhatt, etc in the censor board panel?"

RELATED FEATURE:
The Ashok Kumar interview: 'Alas, realistic movies are dead'