The Central Board of Film Certification has cleared Suman Ghosh’s documentary about Nobel Laureate Amartya Sen titled The Argumentative Indian, The Telegraph reported. The 60-minute documentary could not be released in July as planned because CBFC, which was then headed by Pahlaj Nihlani, had reportedly asked Ghosh to beep out some words and phrases used by Sen in the film, including “cow”, “Gujarat”, “Hindu India” and “Hindutva view of India”.
The filmmaker had refused to accede to the demand. Ghosh released a trailer of the documentary on YouTube, a move that Nihalani claimed was “illegal” even though the internet does not come under the censor board’s purview.
The censor board’s reviewing committee finally cleared The Argumentative Indian in Mumbai on Thursday. “My meeting with CBFC chairman Prasoon Joshi went off really well,” Ghosh told The Telegraph. “Joshi said he loved the documentary and was completely engrossed. He said he got to learn a lot about Amartya Sen. He did not find anything objectionable and cleared it without any cuts. He overruled everything (objections). My faith in (the board’s commitment to) the freedom of expression has been restored, at least (in respect of) my film.”