The Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) has finally cleared Siddhant Chaturvedi and Triptii Dimri's much awaited film, Dhadak 2, with as many as 16 extensive cuts. For those unversed, since the last few months, the Shazia Iqbal-directorial was stuck with the Censor Board because of its controversial subject. Dhadak 2 deals with caste issues and is supposed to be a shocking tale.
According to a report in The Hindu, Dhadak 2 received a U/A 16+ certificate from the CBFC, along with a list of modifications made to the social drama.
One of the key changes includes the dialogue "3,000 years of backlog will not be cleared in just 70 years," which has now been altered to "The backlog of age-old discrimination will not be cleared in just 70 years."
The caste slurs 'chamar' and 'bhangi' have reportedly been muted, with both terms being replaced by the word 'junglee'. The dialogue "Dharam ka kaam hai" was modified to "Punya ka kaam hai".
A lengthy dialogue, "Savarnon ke sadak… humein jala dete the," was substituted with a new line which is, "Na sadke hamari thi, na zameen humari thi, na paani humara tha; yahaan tak ki zindagi bhi humari nahi thi; marne ki naubat aayi to shehar aa gaya."
The report further stated that the CBFC censored the recitation of the poem 'Thakur Ka Kuan' and in one of the songs, a doha by Saint Tulsidas was replaced.
The Censor Board also suggested visual cuts to the makers of Dhadak 2. A five second shot of a character urinating on Nilesh (Siddhant) was censored. Also, a scene where Nilesh's father is humiliated has been trimmed.
Reportedly, the original 20-second disclaimer was replaced with an extended version lasting 1 minute and 51 seconds. Additionally, the CBFC directed the makers to ensure that the revised disclaimer is read out loud during the film's screening.
Dhadak 2 has a runtime of approximately 2 hours and 26 minutes. The film is a remake of the critically acclaimed 2018 Tamil movie Pariyerum Perumal. Dhadak 2 is produced by Karan Johar's Dharma Productions in collaboration with Zee Studios.
The film was announced last year with Siddhant Chaturvedi and Triptii Dimri, and it was slated to release in November 2024. However, the movie was pushed to 2025, and there were reports that it will hit the big screens during the Holi weekend. The film, however, got delayed as it reportedly did not receive a clearance certificate from the CBFC.
The motion poster of Dhadak 2 had ,"Ek tha raja, ek thi rani. Jaat alag thi khatam kahani," written on it. The background featured the text, "Dalit Lives Matter."
