Mission Impossible Fallout: Censor Board Sees Red Over Tom Cruise Saying 'Kashmir'; Chops Off Nearly Every Reference
They have snipped out every mention of Kashmir in the film
Having seen Mission: Impossible - Fallout a couple of days in an early screening, I was quite enthralled by Tom Cruise's amazing agility and the terrific action sequences. Then something happened on screen that left me and many others in the screening surprised. There were some jarring cuts in a couple of scenes when certain characters were talking about a specific location. These abrupt cuts didn't go well with the snappy, sharp editing that came before, and it was clear that it was the handiwork of our beloved Censor Board. But why? The characters were not uttering any F-words, so what bothered our sanskari Censor Board?
Then Ethan Hunt is seen driving into some snow-capped locales in the climax of Mission: Impossible - Fallout and we realise why. These portions were supposedly set in Kashmir, but actually were shot in New Zealand when the team failed to get permissions to shoot in the locales. It was the K-word that has bugged the CBFC so much. They have snipped out every mention of Kashmir in the film, though the mention of the state in a sign-board, another mention of Indian army and Nubra Valley did manage to sneak past the Board.
And the anger of the Board with the film doesn't end there. We don't know how true this is, but a Twitter user shared screenshots of maps of India shown in the film that has Pakistan-Occupied Kashmir as a part of the neighbouring country.
Another Twitter user mentions that Tom Cruise even refers to the place they are travelling as 'Indian Occupied Kashmir'.
We don't know how true these allegations are unless, someone posts a bootleg version of the scene or when the actual DVD comes out with the untampered version.
Earlier in an interview to IANS, director Christopher McQuarrie had this to say about not shooting in Kashmir, "We would have loved to come to India to shoot the film. We couldn’t shoot the aerial sequence in India. It was a little too crazy. So, we ended up in New Zealand. But I scouted India extensively and I would love to come to India and shoot a film." Earlier, certain portions of Ghost Protocol, the fourth instalment in the Mission Impossible franchise, were shot in Mumbai and featured our very own Anil Kapoor. However, these scenes didn't face the wrath of the Censor Board. Even the second film of the Jason Bourne franchise had a scene set in Goa.
(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Jul 27, 2018 10:39 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).